


The Investigation Complication

by moulesfrites (evilcookie)



Category: The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Anxiety Attacks, Authority Figures, F/M, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Mystery, Sheldon is a Sergeant, Stalking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:27:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 93,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27365017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilcookie/pseuds/moulesfrites
Summary: When Amy's lab is broken into by a mystery stalker, everyone is a suspect. It's up to Detective Sergeant Cooper and his team to figure out who is behind the threats. Somehow Amy finds herself in the midst of the investigation – and in need for Sergeant Cooper's affection as well. Shamy AU.- cross posted to ffnet
Relationships: Sheldon Cooper/Amy Farrah Fowler
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	1. Prologue

**The Investigation Complication**

**Prologue**

“ _911, what’s your emergency?”_

Doctor Amy Farrah Fowler halted. She wasn’t so sure it was an emergency now that she heard the dispatcher on the other side of the line. But she had been blinded by panic and she was trembling with shock still, so all she had been able to do was dial 911.

“ _Hello? I can hear you breathing. Please let me know if you’re alright.”_

Amy took a shuddering breath. “I’m alright,” she exhaled. “This is Doctor Amy Fowler, of the neurobiology department, Caltech. There has been a break-in in my laboratory. Someone wrote a message on the glass wall… A-a-a threat.”

Her voice wavered as she spoke. Her eyes moved over the words again. They were written in red paint, red lipstick or something else red that she’d rather not think about. Especially since the cage that used to contain Ricky was empty.

Panic gripped around her throat again. Who would do such a thing?

_“Is the burglar still around or do you appear to be alone at the moment?”_

It was Saturday morning. There was no one around. Amy had to open all the doors with her card and a passcode. She had frozen in shock the second she entered her lab, and had been wise enough to retreat immediately. She wouldn’t want to tamper with any evidence.

“I think I’m alone,” she mumbled.

_“Please leave the scene of the crime. Now, please tell me how we can reach you…”_

* * *

Amy didn’t really know what to do. She was having tea in the pantry when a knock sounded at the entrance of the building. A rather loud knock.

“I’m coming!” she shouted, hastily making way to the door. She spotted a police car through the window.

Two uniformed men stood before her. One around her height, bespectacled and with slight wavy hair. The other tall and lanky. His blue eyes were striking.

“Good morning, ma’am,” the taller man said, a slight southern twang to his accent. “We’re answering a call by a doctor Fowler. Could you please direct us to him?”

Amy was used to this, she laughed.

“I am doctor Fowler,” she said. “It was me who made the call. Please, come in.”

The tall man gave her a look. “There has been a break-in at this building, ma’am. I strongly advise you _not_ to let anyone unknown onto the premises without identifying themselves,” he said, derisively.

Amy flushed. They both looked like cops. And their police car was parked right behind them. Why would they be imposters? But then again, she had never expected to walk into her lab on a Saturday morning and finding what she found as well.

The shorter man cleared his throat, and shot a look to the other one.

“Detective Leonard Hofstadter,” he said, holding up a badge. “This is Sergeant Cooper.”

The tall man held up his badge for her to see. Amy glanced at it. She opened the door for them further. “Come in,” she mumbled, still partly ashamed for her misstep just now.

“Could you tell us what happened here this morning?” Detective Hofstadter asked.

Amy coughed. “Well, I don’t really know what happened here, but I can tell you what I saw coming in,” she asked. Detective Hofstadter nodded. “Please,” he said.

Amy led them to the lab.

“Well, ehm… I came in at like 9:00? There was nothing out of the ordinary in the hallway or the parking lot. My lab has an automated lock, so the door was closed as well when I came in,” she pressed her code in the keypad – _1-2-3-4_ , she meant to change that – and opened the door for them.

Her heart started to beat faster again as her eyes moved across the room. The mess. She worried for her cultures. But it was the empty cage and the words on the glass screen next to it that caused a chill to go down her spine.

_YOU’RE LUCKY I MISSED YOU._

She was about to step into the room and show them around, but a hand closed around her upper arm and pulled her back. The door was slammed shut in her face, and the warmth of a man’s body behind her was something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She almost lost her footing.

She trembled, and looked to her left to Detective Hofstadter. He was frowning.

Amy realised it had to be Sergeant Cooper who pulled her away from entering her lab. His hand was still on her upper arm. She tugged it free. He cleared his throat.

“We’re taking you back to the station for interrogation, Miss Fowler,” he said.

“It’s _Doctor Fowler_ ,” she corrected him, shooting him a glare. He rolled his eyes.

“Please follow Detective Hofstadter to the car,” he said, and actually gave her a little push to get her to start walking. Amy looked at him incredulously.

Sergeant Cooper seemed to be inspecting the door and the lock for a minute. He followed them close behind, his long legs catching up on them. She heard him call for a CSI unit on his phone. He seemed to bark orders.

_What a jackass_ , Amy thought. She wasn’t all that versed in police rankings, but he did seem to outrank Detective Hofstadter, who seemed to be much nicer and sympathetic. He shot her a small smile.

“We’re just giving the CSI people room to investigate the lab,” he said, opening the backdoor of the car for her. For some reason Amy was thankful it was a Saturday. What would her colleagues say if they saw her getting in a police car? It wasn’t as if she had a lot of co-workers she hung out with, except for Dr. Koothrappali who she had recently became sort-of friends with. 

Amy breathed out shakily as they drove off. Detective Hofstadter drove, which surprised her for some reason. Sergeant Cooper seemed like the alpha-male kind of guy who’d get off on driving too fast, especially because no one would tell him off since he’d be driving a cop car.

“Are you doing alright, Doctor Fowler?” Detective Hofstadter asked as he drove on.

Amy nodded. They were obviously doing some sort of good-cop, bad-cop bit. Or maybe Sergeant Cooper really was an ass, that was possible too.

“I’m alright, thank you officer,” Amy mumbled. “I’m just worried about Ricky.”

“Ricky?”

“Yes, he wasn’t there this morning,” her voice caught. It scared her. He wouldn’t have left the lab by himself, even if someone was thrashing it. She wondered again if that threat was painted with paint or blood.

“Should we be filing a missing person’s report?” Sergeant Cooper interrupted her thought process.

“Oh, no,” she blushed. “Ricky is one of my monkeys. I do experiments with him. Well, _on him._ ”

The men shared a look. “Right,” Detective Hofstadter said. “We’ll come back to the missing monkey later.”

“When we get to the station, I’m going to need you to give a list of anyone who has access to the building,” Sergeant Cooper said, looking over his shoulder from the shotgun seat. “And if they all use the same passcode you just used. Because if you think 1-2-3-4 is a secure password, I’ve got some articles for you to read on cyber security.”

Amy gaped at him. That was unnecessary. “I’ll give you a list,” she just replied.

“Good.” His blues eyes seemed to look through her. He must look scary in an interrogating room, she figured. Perhaps that was why he had this job.

A sudden question entered her mind. Why were they taking her to the station?

_Was she a suspect?_


	2. The Bad Cop

**Chapter I**

**The Bad Cop**

When they put Amy in an interrogation room much like the ones she saw on TV, her earlier thoughts were confirmed. She _was_ a suspect. But still innocent until proven guilty, right? She hoped. At least they hadn’t put her in hand cuffs and tied her to the table she was sitting at.

Sergeant Cooper entered the room, holding a cup of steaming liquid.

“Detective Hofstadter sends you his regards,” he said as he handed her the paper cup with hot water and a tea bag. He sounded exasperated, as if he didn’t think getting her a beverage was a nice gesture.

“Right,” Amy mumbled. She wondered where Detective Hofstadter was. Was he watching them through that glass which was an obvious way to look into the room? Amy would rather have this talk with Detective Hofstadter than with Sergeant Cooper. He made her feel uncomfortable.

Sergeant Cooper took a seat in front of her. He looked her up and down, and Amy felt uneasy under his gaze. His eyes were icy blue, but they seemed to burn her skin.

She swallowed uncomfortably.

“So, Miss Fowler,” he started.

“ _Doctor_ Fowler,” she interjected. He gave her a bored look.

“I just wanted to ask you a few questions about your whereabouts, your motives to work on a Saturday and a few insights in your personal life,” he continued, not acknowledging her at all. “It shouldn’t take long if you cooperate.”

He seemed to be speaking to her like he didn’t trust her at all, and it irked her.

“Okay,” she said. Taking a sip of tea to quench her sudden thirst.

“Let’s start with your whereabouts, shall we?”

Amy shrugged.

“Where were you last night between 6 PM and 1 AM?” he asked, and he looked at her unblinkingly.

“I was at home,” Amy supplied. She hoped she didn’t sound suspicious or nervous. But she had never been interrogated before, and frankly, it was a little nerve-wracking.

“You were at home,” Sergeant Cooper repeated. “With your husband? Boyfriend? Roommate?”

His eyes flickered to her left hand. There was no ring there.

“With my cat,” Amy said, feeling like a loser. Sergeant Cooper raised an eyebrow.

“Can anyone vouch for your whereabouts last night, Miss Fowler?” he asked. Amy didn’t even bother correcting him this time.

“Well, you can’t really ask Garfield any questions… so I guess not?” Amy asked, worrying a little. She wasn’t coming off as the victim like this.

“You did not go to a supermarket, or a restaurant for a take-out dinner before going home? You drove home, did you not? Does your building have a security system?” he was firing off questions now, and Amy wondered if it was some sort of technique. To try and make her feel uncomfortable.

There was no need, really. She felt extremely uncomfortable under his scrutinizing gaze.

“I had done groceries earlier, so I didn’t buy anything last night. I don’t know if there is a camera at the front of my building, and if there is, I don’t know if it works. You could ask my landlord, if you want?” she asked.

“There’s no need,” Sergeant Cooper said. Amy felt relieved; she felt as if she had passed some kind of test.

“We’ll go and check it out when we get to your apartment later,” he said. And Amy felt her heart skip a beat. Maybe she hadn’t done well at all.

“What did you do last night at home, Miss Fowler?” Sergeant Cooper continued.

Amy willed herself not to blush. “I read a book, and worked on my quilt.”

Relating her dorky hobbies to a police officer made her feel like even more of a loser.

“What’s the title of the book?”

“Pride and Prejudice.”

“What colour is this _quilt_?”

“It’s multi-coloured.” _Obviously,_ she thought. That was the very definition of a quilt.

“How old are you?”

Amy did a double-take. “Is this relevant to the investigation, Sir?” she asked.

“Yes.” He was practically staring her down.

“I’m 31 years old.”

“So, a 31-year-old, non-committed female of your intelligence and your physical appearance has nothing better to do than spend her Friday nights at home? Reading books and making quilts?”

Amy blushed. She felt called out; never before had she really been this bothered by her eccentric hobbies and lack of friends – well, a little. But having it thrown back in her face like this was pretty harsh. And what did he mean _‘of your physical appearance’_? Was that a compliment?

“I resent your tone, officer. I like to spend my Friday nights relaxing,” she said, and to her horror her blush didn’t seem to dissolve. Sergeant Cooper stared at her.

“And what causes this need to relax, hm? Let’s dive into that for a minute.”

It was awful. Sergeant Cooper proceeded to grill her about her day-to-day life, it was really not that interesting. Every morning she woke up at 7 AM, showered and had breakfast. She drove to work where she worked on her research. She explained her research to him; her work on addiction with the Capuchins (Detective Hofstadter had said they’d ask about Ricky, but so far nothing), the neurological approaches and the differences in their brains upon autopsy.

“Do you work alone?” he asked.

“Mainly, yes. Sometimes I have an intern, but I haven’t had one for some time.”

“How many people have access to your laboratory?”

“I think the entire building has access. You just need a card to get in, and as far as I know, everyone has the same passcode,” Amy answered awkwardly.

Sergeant Cooper huffed. “For an institution claiming to employ the best and the brightest, your security is certainly lacking.”

“So, that narrows the people with direct access down to how many people? From what I’ve seen that building housed either 6 laboratories of the size of yours per floor, so 18 in total. Assuming all the floors are identical,” he spoke offhandedly, but Amy was impressed. His spatial visualization ability seemed highly developed.

“The laboratories on the top floors are smaller, the belong to medical research departments,” Amy said, “I think there’s around 25 labs total. But some are shared. I’m sure you could get a list of the people who work in the building.”

She wanted to suggest he could get the records from security; she was almost sure that they kept records of the cards used to access the building. She had signed so many waivers and disclosure agreements when she signed on, she really couldn’t remember.

“We’re pulling the card-access-records already,” he said before she had a chance to suggest it. “Now, Miss Fowler…”

“ _Doctor_ ,” Amy muttered softly. Sergeant Cooper merely raised an eyebrow at her.

“Is there anyone you can think of, anyone at all, who might hold a grudge against you? Do you have any disagreements? Arguments?” his facial expression had softened a little – like he was trying to be approachable, now that he was getting to the juicy part of his questioning.

Amy had been prepared for this question. Because that was all that she had been able to think about; _who_ would do such a thing?

“No, no one,” she said.

Sergeant Cooper stared her down. His penetrating blue-eyed gaze looked through her.

“Could you give me a list of your ex-boyfriends?” he asked.

Amy swallowed awkwardly. “I don’t have any ex-boyfriends,” she mumbled, looking away. This was embarrassing.

“I’m sorry, ex-girlfriends then. Or former lovers? Current lovers?” Sergeant Cooper pressed.

Amy just looked at him, her blush was burning her face. “I don’t have any ex-partners, officer,” she said, hoping her voice didn’t waver with insecurity.

Sergeant Cooper looked unperturbed.

“Doctor Fowler,” he started, and Amy looked in shock to see him address her correctly for the first time, “you are not under oath, so you can’t be prosecuted for perjury. Nevertheless, I strongly advise you not to lie to me during interrogation.”

Amy stared at him. What was his deal? Was it _that_ unlikely that she didn’t have any exes?

“I’m not lying, sir.” As if she could lie, with him staring at her like this.

“Are you saving yourself for marriage then? Are you one of those girls?” he asked, the condescension dripping from his voice.

“No, I’m not,” Amy said. “But the only person I’ve been with has no access to the country, so it can’t be him.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” he argued.

“Alright,” Amy said, crossing her arms. Sergeant Cooper was really ticking her off. “His name is Faisal Al-Jazari. He lives in Ryadh, Saudi Arabia. He hasn’t been able to enter the country since President Trump installed the travel-ban.”

For the first time since the interrogation started, Amy wondered why Sergeant Cooper wasn’t writing anything down. Surely he needed to take notes?

“When is the last time you spoke to him?”

Amy searched her memory. “Ehm… a couple months ago?” she guessed.

“And was this a friendly conversation?” he asked. Amy tried her hardest not to roll her eyes. Just because he was from a Muslim country, didn’t automatically mean that he was a terrorist. Sergeant Cooper seemed like the kind of prejudiced man who’d think that. 

“It was,” she said. “We discussed my latest research, made possible by the lab equipment he financed.”

Sergeant Cooper raised an eyebrow at her. She blinked back at him. Was he trying to figure her out? So, she slept with Faisal. Big deal. He showed a really good time around the country, and when he made a pass at her she didn’t turn him down.

She understood it probably sounded like she slept with him for the lab equipment.

Maybe she had. Amy had always wondered about sex; and she had great expectations from all the romance novels she read. Sex wasn’t really what the books made it out to be; it was over quickly, she didn’t feel much of it and she had faked an orgasm when Faisal awkwardly touched her between her legs.

There hadn’t been anyone since.

“I’ll have him checked out,” Sergeant Cooper said, after what seemed like a minute of looking at her.

“Fine,” Amy said.

Sergeant Cooper cleared his throat. “Do you have any rivalries at work? A colleague you have had a falling out with? An argument over who got to do an experiment or a promotion someone would feel resentment over?”

Amy shrugged. “Not that I’m aware of,” she said. “I keep to myself mostly, and I’ve been working on this project for a while now. I don’t think there is anyone who is jealous of me, professionally.”

“If not professionally, personally then?” he was quick to ask.

“I don’t see why,” Amy said defiantly. “I just told you about my boring life.”

“You have an advanced degree from Harvard University, and you hold a tenured research position at one of the country’s most esteemed educational institutions, Doctor Fowler,” Sergeant Cooper said. Amy wondered when he had researched her. “If you are so sure there isn’t anyone with a professional resentment or grudge, than it must be something personal.”

“I really wouldn’t know,” Amy said.

Sergeant Cooper huffed. He seemed to be losing his patience.

“It would be really helpful if you cooperated, Miss Fowler,” he said testily. “Perhaps you don’t understand the severity of the situation. So far, there are multiple angles for me to investigate further. Shall I run them by you?”

His question seemed rhetorical. Amy took a sip of her tea. It was cold now.

“The first angle is that you have unknowingly enraged someone, who felt the need to leave you a threat in your place of work,” he started. “This person also took your monkey with them.”

“Another angle, is the ex-lover who finances your work but you apparently hardly speak to, who felt the need to come by and leave a message of how much he _missed you_ ,” he emphasized the last two words.

“Yet another angle, is that you have become so bored with your mundane life that you decided to stage a crime scene in your lab,” he suggested, unblinkingly. “A cry for attention, perhaps? Maybe you’ve been looking to catch the attention of a certain co-worker and you’ve been unsuccessful?”

Amy stared at him.

“That is preposterous,” she managed to squeak.

“Is it?” Sergeant Cooper asked. “You have no alibi, you come in to work on a Saturday morning after spending a night plotting on the couch, and allegedly stumble upon a crime scene. There is no one around. Your monkey appears to be missing. Tell me, Doctor Fowler, where did you hide the poor creature? Or have you managed to make him OD on alcohol and cigarettes?”

Amy’s eyes filled with tears. She was genuinely worried for Ricky. How dare he suggest such a thing?

Sergeant Cooper seemed to falter a bit when he saw her eyes fill with tears. He cleared his throat awkwardly. Amy sniffled and avoided his gaze. She mustn’t think of Ricky and what might have happened – what if it was his blood they used to write that threatening message with?

She tried to think of anyone who she might have angered somehow. If she published anything that might have offended someone somehow.

It really couldn’t be someone at work, could it? She hardly spoke to anyone, except for Doctor Koothrappali, whom she started having lunch with once a week to talk about their shared love of romantic comedies and novels. But he wouldn’t do such a thing, would he?

She was so lost in thought, that she hardly noticed that Sergeant Cooper was making a phone call until she saw him hang up. Now she hadn’t heard what he was saying.

They sat in silence – probably another one of his techniques. The silent treatment. It would make her talk, perhaps.

The door to the interrogation room opened and in walked one of the most beautiful women Amy had ever seen. Skin like alabaster (it looked like she didn’t even have pores), blonde hair like a waterfall of liquid gold down her back, seemingly perfect breasts and captivating smile.

The smile disappeared quickly when she turned her gaze to Sergeant Cooper.

“I am not some kind of waitress, Sheldon,” she said, but she put another cup of steaming tea in front of Amy. “Here you go, sweetie,” she said, giving Amy another smile.

“Thanks,” Amy mumbled, looking at Sergeant Cooper in surprise. His first name was _Sheldon?_

“And yet, here you are, bringing tea,” Sergeant Cooper said.

“Only for the suspect, though. Amy, is it?” the girl asked.

“Yes,” Amy mumbled.

“Hi, I’m Penny,” the girl supplied. She gave Amy such a genuine smile, it was strange.

“Are you a detective too?” Amy asked.

Sergeant Cooper snorted. “No, she’s not. Penny was just here to bring you a cup of tea because you were in distress,” he said. “You may go now, Penny. I’m sure Detective Hofstadter is around to talk to.”

Penny rolled her eyes. “Bye, Sheldon,” she said, sighing deeply. She shot Amy a wink.

Amy realised Sergeant Cooper must have called Penny to ask for a cup of tea for her. She felt strangely touched by the gesture.

“Thank you for the tea,” Amy muttered, looking at him from beneath her lashes.

“It’s quite alright,” he mumbled. “Now, Miss Fowler. Before we dive further into your personal life, is there anything you wish to tell me upfront?”

“I-I was thinking about the people I work with?” she said, feeling like an ass for bringing it up. “There is one colleague I have lunch with regularly, Doctor Koothrappali. I shared some things about my work, but mostly we talk about romance novels.”

“And this Doctor Koothrappali, is she a neurobiologist too?”

“Doctor Koothrappali is a man. He is an astrophysicist,” Amy laughed.

“I assumed because of the romance novels. Is he a homosexual?”

Amy blinked in surprise. “I don’t know. Maybe? He is a romantic, that I know. I don’t know much about his sexual preference, to be honest.”

“So, it’s safe to say there is no romantic interest from either of you for the other?” he looked at her imploringly.

“Not from me at least,” Amy said. She wondered if maybe she had missed social cues. Could it be that Doctor Koothrappali was into her?

“I’m sorry, I just never thought of our interaction like this. Maybe he _is_ into me?” Amy asked, looking at Sergeant Cooper.

“Well, don’t look at me. How should I know?” he seemed chagrined. “Are there any other men you interact with at work that might be worth mentioning?”

Amy was beginning to seriously doubt her sanity. Perhaps she was so focussed on her work all the time that she had missed clues, or hints?

She didn’t really think it through when she spoke next. Maybe it was the way Sergeant Cooper stared her down.

“Well, there’s this guy from the Geology department,” she said, wondering if she misunderstood that as well. “Doctor Kibbler, he brings me rocks sometimes.”

Sergeant Cooper’s eyes bugged out. “Rocks? He brings you _rocks_? What do you mean by that?”

Amy shrugged. “He has these minerals and stuff. Sometimes he gives me one.”

“Why?”

Amy blushed. “I’m beginning to wonder that myself now.”

Sergeant Cooper seemed ready to speak again, when a voice sounded over the intercom.

_“Sarge, we have some preliminary results of the first samples from the scene at Caltech you’re gonna wanna see.”_

He got up from and walked over to the door. “Why don’t you go think about any more suitors you might be having without realising it. I’ll be back shortly.”

If Amy didn’t know any better, she would have said he sounded jealous.

**To be continued**


	3. The House Search

**Chapter 2**

**The House Search**

Sergeant Cooper entered with Detective Hofstadter and another man following him close behind. The new man was even shorter than Detective Hofstadter, and his Beatles-haircut made him look either very young or at least uninterested in his looks.

“Right,” Sergeant Cooper barked. “We need to work fast. So, if you could cooperate, Doctor Fowler, that would be most helpful.”

He made it sound like she hadn’t been cooperating before.

“Alright,” she said anyway, her eyes flitting to the unknown man.

“This is Howard Wolowitz,” Sergeant Cooper said – the man gave her a nod. “He has a Master’s degree from MIT in engineering. He’ll accompany us to your apartment, to check the footage of any security cameras on your building and also set up a security system at your apartment.”

“A security system?” Amy repeated, her stomach constricting with dread.

“If you told me the truth just now about your whereabouts last night, Miss Fowler, then the only logical explanation is that someone is looking to hurt you in some way. Since this person knows where you work, chances are they also know where you live,” Sergeant Cooper said, as if she was stupid for not thinking this herself.

“M-maybe I don’t want to go home then,” Amy said quietly.

Detective Hofstadter cleared his throat. “We could get you into a safe house, but that would take some time to set up. First, we need to take some precautions concerning your safety. Howard here is the best. We can set up a system in your home that enables you to contact the precinct at any time of day – the nearest officers will be sent to your house immediately.”

He made Amy feel a little more at ease. He gave her a small smile. Sergeant Cooper was looking at his phone, seemingly exasperated because they were slowing him down.

“Okay, I guess,” Amy said, not wanting to be any trouble.

“Great,” Sergeant Cooper said. “Now, let’s go then.”

“Wait!” Amy called out. “What was it in the preliminary lab tests you saw?”

Detective Hofstadter shared a look with Howard. It did not bode well.

“The blood they wrote the message with is almost definitely simian,” Detective Hofstadter said, looking at her apologetically.

Sergeant Cooper cleared his throat loudly. “And that will be all the classified information you’ll disclose with a suspect, detective,” he berated him.

Amy barely noticed the exchange. Her hopes that the message was written in paint or lipstick or whatever had been small to say the least, but the lab work showed that it was the blood of a monkey. Ricky’s? Had this person killed Ricky and used his blood to leave a threat?

Images of what could have happened flashed before her eyes; a faceless stranger killing Ricky with a knife, blood everywhere… Before she really knew how it happened, she was hanging over the side of her chair, throwing up her breakfast.

* * *

After a clean-up crew had come to clean up her vomit and Penny had given her a stick of gum, Amy thought the day couldn’t become more embarrassing than it already was.

She turned out to be wrong.

If she had known that there would be three unknown men of the LAPD in her home, she would have cleaned up a little. Or at least put her vibrator back in its velvet bag in her nightstand, instead of leaving it laying around in her unmade bed for Sergeant Cooper to see.

The two of them were standing in her bedroom, and his eyes swept over her furniture and laundry basket – a pair of leopard spotted panties was draped over the side. His eyebrows rose when he saw the pink sex toy in her bed.

“Did a little more than just reading and quilting last night, did we, Miss Fowler?” he asked slyly, barely containing a smirk.

Amy blushed and quickly threw her blanket over it. The damage was already done however.

It was a completely unprofessional comment, and Amy realised she could file a complaint with his superior because of it. Instead she choose to one-up him.

“That was this morning actually, _officer,_ ” she said pointedly. She watched with a little satisfaction that his face turned slightly pink.

He gaped at her. Amy raised her eyebrows defiantly.

They were both silent as they looked at each other, and an unexpected tingle moved over her spine. There was something unsettling about being alone in her bedroom with a tall, uniformed man, she reckoned. But to be talking about her self-love habits – and him now knowing she had masturbated only hours before – was a whole different level of weird.

Or maybe not weird, but something else.

She had no time to think about this. Behind her in the living room she could hear Wolowitz and Detective Hofstadter talk quietly as they looked through some of the security footage from the entrance of her building. And she was still rattled about the very real possibility that Ricky was dead by the hands of a stalker she didn’t even know.

Sergeant Cooper cleared his throat. “You’ll be needing locks on those windows,” he said, pointing to them.

“I live on the third floor and the fire escape is on the other side of the building,” Amy said, thinking he was exaggerating.

“You’d be surprised, Doctor Fowler,” he said. “Wolowitz can install them today. Trust me, it’s safer.”

“Alright,” she mumbled.

There really wasn’t anything else to inspect in her bedroom. It was just her bed, the nightstand, and her wardrobe. Her apartment wasn’t that big. A tenured position didn’t pay _that_ much, and she still had a lot of student loans to pay off.

The air between them was slightly awkward now. “Uhm, is there anything else we should be looking at here?” she asked.

“No, we’re done here,” he said. “Let’s move on to the living room.”

Wolowitz and Detective Hofstadter were sitting at her dinner table, looking at the screen of a laptop. How he had managed to get the footage was beyond her – either the footage was easily accessible, or Wolowitz was some sort of hacker. Either way, they seemed engrossed in watching the images fly by on the screen.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Cooper was looking at her bookcase. Amy wished he wouldn’t. It was filled with actual literature – Jane Eyre, Chaucer, Shakespeare – but two entire shelves were dedicated to her Harlequin romance novels.

“Is this one of the rocks Doctor Kibbler gave you?” he asked, holding up a violet crystal stone. He was wearing a disposable glove.

“Eh, yeah,” Amy said. Sergeant Cooper turned it over in his hand, inspecting it.

“Howard,” he called. “Is Bernadette working today?”

“It’s Saturday, she’s taking my mother to get a pedicure,” Wolowitz replied. “Why?”

“I need her to examine this,” Sergeant Cooper said, looking at the rock with narrowed eyes.

Amy’s brow furrowed. “Why?” she asked. “Because Bert might have put a tracker or a microphone in it?”

She was being sarcastic, but he didn’t notice it or choose not to comment. Sergeant Cooper stared at her. “We shouldn’t rule out the possibility, just because the man is simply a geologist,” he said. “How many more of these gifts do you have in your apartment?”

“I have a smaller one, a tiger’s eye. It’s on my nightstand,” Amy said. She felt anxious for some reason. What if he had a point?

“Did he tell you to keep it near your bed?” Sergeant Cooper asked, staring at her.

“He did,” Amy whispered. _Why?_

“Fetch it for me,” he said. And Amy was so disturbed that she didn’t even talk back to him ordering her around. When she returned to the living room, Sergeant Cooper had taken a seat on her couch. He was stroking Garfield, who had finally come round to see who all these strange men in her home were.

“Here,” she said, intending to hand him the tiny brown stone. He wasn’t wearing his gloves anymore and he indicated to the other stone on her coffee table.

“Leave it there,” he said. He seemed preoccupied with Garfield, as he petted her some more.

“Where is Garfield then?” he asked.

“This _is_ Garfield,” Amy said, laughing a little. She reached out and scratched her under her chin. “She likes you.”

“ _She?”_ Sergeant Cooper repeated incredulously. “I am sorry, but Garfield is an orange, male cat. You’re telling me you have a black, female cat named Garfield?”

“Yep,” Amy replied, grinning. Sergeant Cooper was unnecessarily flustered by this.

“That makes no sense! Why would you name a black cat _Garfield_? A female cat nonetheless!” he was raising his voice, the confusion and shock evident.

Amy giggled.

“I didn’t name her,” Amy said, stroking Garfield’s head now. She had crawled into Sergeant Cooper’s lap.

“Why didn’t you change it?” he rebutted. “There is no logic to this!”

“Sheldon, let it go,” Detective Hofstadter piped up from behind them. Amy startled. She had forgotten they weren’t alone.

“You know what else, she doesn’t even like lasagna,” Amy whispered conspiratorially, and she smirked at the sergeant.

For some reason she enjoyed seeing him uncomfortable, she hadn’t meant to sound flirty. Or at least not _too_ flirty, that is. Sergeant Cooper was blushing slightly as he stared at her.

Amy smirked slightly. She’d get back to him for referring to her as ‘Miss’ all these times.

“Why don’t you tell me a little more about these suitors you have at work,” Sergeant Cooper said, removing Garfield from his lap, who mewled indignantly.

“I wouldn’t call them suitors,” Amy mumbled. Her eyes moved to the rocks on the coffee table. She had never wondered why Bert brought her those. Her lab was filled with them by now.

Her lifelong insecurities had made the idea of a man being interested in her seem really unlikely.

But somehow, Sergeant Cooper had pointed out – within just 30 minutes of talking to her – that there were in fact multiple men who she could be getting it on with. How she never realised it, was beyond her. Although, Faisal didn’t really count. But Bert maybe. And perhaps Doctor Koothrappali as well?

Sergeant Cooper gave her a look, as if to ask; _Well, are you going to talk?_

Amy’s eyes shifted to the rocks on the table again. What if he had a point? Could it be that Bert had been planting listening devices and lab disguised as rocks and minerals in her home?

Amy beckoned Sergeant Cooper a little closer with her hand, and leaned into him. He was really close now, and she caught a whiff of his scent. It was most peculiar; baby powder, pine trees and something inherently masculine. Her stomach constricted.

“Can we talk in front of these?” she whispered quietly, indicating to her coffee table.

Sergeant Cooper gave her a look. “I highly doubt these are rigged somehow, but alright,” he muttered, the volume of his voice matching hers.

He got up from the couch and walked ahead to her bedroom. Amy exhaled slowly, it looked like they would be alone in her bedroom again. Detective Hofstadter looked at them quizzically as they passed him.

Amy closed the door behind her. It was awkward again. Sergeant Cooper took a seat on the foot of her bed. His eyes flickered over to where her vibrator lay hidden under the blanket.

Amy cleared her throat, and took a seat on the foot of her bed as well.

“Let’s start with the Middle Eastern dilettante, shall we?” Sergeant Cooper asked.

That seemed like a racist way to ask about Faisal, but Amy chose not to comment on it.

“There’s not much to tell about Faisal,” Amy said. “I went to Saudi Arabia three years ago and met him in person – we’d been corresponding via e-mail about my research long before that. We went to same camel races, he took me to see some highlights… You know, mosques and palaces.”

“And then he took you to bed as well?” Sergeant Cooper asked sharply.

Amy blushed. She hadn’t expected him to ask her this already, and in this no-nonsense way.

“Yes,” she answered.

“How long did this affair last?” he asked.

Amy blushed some more. “I was in Riyadh for three weeks, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Sergeant Cooper had a way of looking straight through her. They probably didn’t need any lie-detectors at the station, with him working there. It was impossible to lie with him looking at her like that.

“That’s not what I’m asking,” Sergeant Cooper said. “How long did the affair with Faisal last? Were you sleeping together for the entire three weeks?”

Amy gaped at him. “Is this relevant?” she snapped. “Officer,” she added as an afterthought.

“I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t, Doctor Fowler.”

He stared at her. Amy looked back defiantly. At least he had addressed her correctly this time.

“It was a two-night thing,” she muttered.

Sergeant Cooper raised his eyebrows in surprise at first, but then his eyes narrowed. “I asked you not to lie to me earlier,” he said, his voice low.

“I’m not,” Amy said brusquely. She looked away from his questioning eyes. It was bad enough that her so-called friends from her time at Harvard made fun of her for being such a virginal nerd, but to have Sergeant Cooper pretending she was lying about her lack of love life every time was even worse.

“You said before he was the only one you’ve been with,” Sergeant Cooper said, looking at her disbelievingly.

Amy felt extremely uncomfortable. She had always thought she’d feel uncomfortable would she ever have a man in her bedroom. But never had she thought that man would be a uniformed officer and she’d be fully dressed, but feeling completely naked by his embarrassing questions.

“Yes,” she said. Her blush was burning up her face.

Sergeant Cooper blinked once, twice. He coughed.

“So, three years after the fact, you still correspond regularly, correct?” he asked. He seemed uncomfortable too, at least.

Amy thought it wasn’t really fair that this man got to know about the most intimate details of her sex life – not that there was much to know, but that was the whole point – and she knew next to nothing about him.

“We do,” Amy said. “But it’s not a courtship, it’s just about the research and the results I’m getting. Our talks are professional, we both agreed it was a one-time, well – two time – thing. Faisal is looking to marry a Muslim woman, which I am not.”

Sergeant Cooper nodded. “And this Doctor Kibbler, the man who brings you rocks. How long has that been going on?”

Amy pondered for a minute. She couldn’t really remember how she had come to interact with him. It wasn’t that notable, otherwise she would have remembered.

“The rock bringing? A few months I think. I never really realised it could be his way of flirting with me,” Amy felt foolish again.

“Has he ever propositioned you directly? Asked you out?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Amy said. “Although he does keep mentioning this rock and mineral show next month. Maybe he’s been leading up to asking me out?”

Sergeant Cooper gave her a look. She felt incredibly naïve.

“Howard’s wife works at the precinct, I’ll have her look at those rocks. She does a lot of lab work. This man sounds harmless enough anyway, too afraid to directly ask you out. That doesn’t add up with leaving threats at your laboratory,” he said.

“Now, then there’s Doctor Koothrappali,” he continued. “Your romance-loving lunch date. Tell me more about him.”

Amy didn’t really like his insinuations, but she really didn’t know what to say in return. She opened her mouth to start talking about Rajesh, when Sergeant Cooper reached for the phone in his pocket. It buzzed with an incoming call.

“Cooper,” he answered brusquely. He listened for a while. “We’re almost done here at her home, Sir. Wolowitz is installing the security systems as we speak. I’m almost done with preliminary questioning.”

He listened to the voice on the other end of the line. His eyes cut to hers sharply.

“Really?” he paused. “If you think it’s best… Alright.”

Amy wondered what was being said on the other end of the line. Sergeant Cooper seemed unamused. His eyes moved over Amy’s face, and further down, fleeting over her body.

She felt weirdly checked out.

“I don’t think that is the best course of action in this situation, Captain,” he said, with a slight edge in his voice. “Fine. We’ll talk it through at the station.”

He hung up and sighed deeply. He seemed pissed off. “Come on,” he said, standing up and walking back to the living room.

“What’s going on?” Amy asked, bewildered. He ignored her.

“Wolowitz, Hofstadter,” he called out to his colleagues. “Captain Gablehauser wants us back at the station. He has devised a plan how to handle this investigation without consulting me. Let’s go.”

Amy watched them grumble and sigh exasperatedly as they packed up their laptops and other equipment. Wolowitz and Detective Hofstadter walked out the front door with their things.

Amy expected she’d hear about the security system and hotline with the precinct later then. She took a seat on her couch and scratched Garfield behind her ears. She felt exhausted, and it wasn’t even noon yet.

“Doctor Fowler,” Sergeant Cooper’s voice snapped her out of her reverie, he was standing by the door, holding it open. “Come along then.”

Amy blinked at him. She hadn’t expected she’d be coming back to the station with them.

“I’m coming with you?” she asked, surprised still.

“Of course you are,” Sergeant Cooper said, rolling his eyes. “My boss wants to talk you through this plan he’s concocted. Now, come along then. Chop, chop.”

Amy looked at his incredulously – if it was because of his impatience or the way he spoke condescendingly about his boss, she wasn’t sure. Maybe it was both.

She walked through the door he held open for her, and proceeded to lock up. He was standing entirely too close to her as she did.

“What plan is this?” she asked, only because she was feeling nervous from his proximity and needed to do _something_.

Sergeant Cooper looked even angrier than before. His jaw ticked.

“He’s planning a trap of sorts, with you as live bait.”

**To be continued**


	4. The Obvious Plan

**Chapter 3**

**The Obvious Plan**

“You can sit in the front, Wolowitz,” Sergeant Cooper said. “I’ll sit in the back with Doctor Fowler. We weren’t done talking.”

Amy wondered if it was part of his police training that he had to sound this ominous when talking. It was unnerving.

Detective Hofstadter drove off, and the backseat was small enough for Amy to be able to smell Sergeant Cooper’s scent again. Perhaps he was a father, she mused. Why else would a grown man smell like baby powder?

“So, we were about to talk about your lunch date, the romance-loving astrophysicist?” Sergeant Cooper said, turning towards her. Amy looked away from his penetrating gaze, she could see Detective Hofstadter watching them in his rear view mirror. Wolowitz didn’t even pretend he wasn’t listening to them.

“Doctor Koothrappali, yes,” Amy said snippily.

“Yes,” Sergeant Cooper raised his eyebrows. “How did these luncheons become a thing between the two of you?”

“Doctor Koothrappali writes for the Caltech magazine,” Amy started. “They did a piece on scientists with surprising hobbies; physicists who paint, biochemists who bake cookies, that sort of thing. He interviewed me about my writing, and we hit it off. We both enjoy romance novels.”

“Your writing?” Sergeant Cooper’s brow furrowed.

Amy wished she would stop blushing. She hadn’t blushed this much in a long, long time. For some reason this man brought it out in her.

“I write short stories I post online,” Amy said, completely evading what kind of stories she wrote.

Sergeant Cooper blinked. “Are they traceable to you?” he asked.

“No, I use a handle. It’s anonymous,” Amy answered.

“But Doctor Koothrappali interviewed you about them?” he pressed.

“No, he interviewed me about my writing in general. I write poetry as well, haiku’s and sonnets. It’s a way to express myself creatively. I didn’t mention the fanfiction to him.”

It was out before she knew it. Wolowitz guffawed from the front seat. Amy shot him a look, but he was looking at the road. Sergeant Cooper just looked pensive.

“Right, and now you lunch?”

“Yes,” Amy said exasperatedly. “He e-mailed me after the interview; I had given him some of my sonnets. He really enjoyed them. Since then we get together about once, sometimes twice, a week to have lunch and talk about romance novels or romantic comedies.”

Sergeant Cooper looked deep in thought. “Has he expressed an interest in you? Propositioned you like Doctor Kibbler did with his rock and mineral show?” 

“He hasn’t asked to meet outside of work,” Amy said. “And I haven’t suggested it either. It’s just nice to eat lunch with someone once a week.”

“Do people see the two of you together?” he asked. “Is there a bit of gossip culture at the university? Do they talk?”

Amy shrugged. “Possibly. If there is, I wouldn’t know it. I don’t talk much to colleagues outside of work meetings.”

Sergeant Cooper looked at her. She looked back defiantly.

He had to have realised she was a bit of a lonely loser now, hadn’t he? Why did he keep looking at her like he didn’t believe her when she mentioned the parts of her life?

“And you mentioned earlier that you don’t know whether Doctor Koothrappali is a homosexual or not,” he clarified.

“We discuss movies and books, officer,” Amy clarified. “I don’t see any reason for my colleagues to know about my personal life. Nor I of theirs.”

“Alright then,” he said. “And outside of work. Is there anything notable you wish to tell me?”

* * *

The rest of the car ride was rather uneventful. Amy had already told him about her boring life when he first interrogated her, and it almost felt as if he was asking her again to see if she would mess up her earlier story.

Or it was for the amusement of Wolowitz, who she could see smirk from time to time.

They arrived at the precinct a little while later. Amy was told to wait at a desk – Sergeant Cooper’s, it seemed – while the men went to talk to the captain of the precinct. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she had a clear view of the room they were arguing in.

Sergeant Cooper seemed to be raising his voice at the man who had to be Captain Gablehauser, while Detective Hofstadter looked on, a frown edged in his features.

Amy tried to read their lips for a while, but she was terrible at that. Instead she looked at stuff on Sergeant Cooper’s desk. There wasn’t much on it; a desktop computer, a bunch of pencils, and a picture frame with a family photo. She inspected it closer. It was old; she could tell by the clothes worn in it, as well as the faded quality.

A woman with high hair – Dolly Parton came to mind – held a dark haired boy wearing a checkered shirt and a bowtie in her lap. An older man stood next to them, looking at the two of them instead of the camera. Was it Sergeant Cooper as a kid? The two adults seemed too old to be his parents, but grandparents maybe?

She was leaning in further when she felt someone’s presence next to her. She looked up guiltily.

“Hi,” it was Penny, looking as bubbly as before.

“Hey,” Amy said, blushing a little.

“What’s going on in there?” Penny asked, nudging her head to the briefing room where the discussion was still on-going.

Amy shrugged. “I don’t really know. We were at my place, where Detective Hofstadter and mister Wolowitz were busy working on either looking at the surveillance tapes or installing surveillance cameras, when Sergeant Cooper was called into office.”

“Hmm,” Penny hummed. She was looking into the room as well, like she was trying to see if she could tell what they were saying. “Well, whatever it is, they do _not_ look happy.”

Amy had deduced the same thing. She didn’t understand what Penny’s job at the precinct was. Sergeant Cooper had said she wasn’t a detective, and she didn’t look like a police officer either. But even if she wasn’t an officer, was she supposed to be speaking to Amy at all during an on-going investigation?

“Penny, what is it you do here at the precinct?” Amy asked, too curious for her own good.

“Oh, I’m an administrative assistant to Captain Gablehauser,” she said, dismissively. “Mainly I just hang out here and observe the dynamics of the detectives. It’s fun to pass the time between auditions; I’m an aspiring actress.”

Amy could see that. She was gorgeous.

“Should you be talking to me?” Amy asked.

Penny laughed. “Yeah, that’s no problem,” she gave Amy a smile. “Even I could tell you haven’t committed any crime. Leonard told me your monkey was missing, and when Sheldon suggested you might have done that yourself, you were genuinely upset. There’s no faking that.”

Amy gawked at her. Penny had been watching the interrogation.

She felt exposed.

“Do you watch a lot of interrogations then?” Amy asked. She was pretty sure that that wasn’t allowed. Right? She had been talking about her non-existent love life for crying out loud! She didn’t like the idea that a lot of people knew this about her.

“Oh, I don’t!” Penny was quick to correct her. “I don’t think I’m allowed in, but Leonard was watching and he called me over. It’s not every day we get to see Sheldon this worked up over a woman, you know.”

She threw Amy a wink. Amy stared at her. _What?_

Her response died in here throat when the door to the briefing room opened, it was Captain Gablehauser. “Doctor Fowler, if you could come in please,” he said.

Amy threw Penny an uncertain look. What was that comment about Sergeant Cooper? She followed Captain Gablehauser to the briefing room. Detective Hofstadter still looked worried or deep in thought. Sergeant Cooper was seething. Wolowitz was frowning.

“As you might have been told already, I am Eric Gablehauser, captain of this precinct,” he started.

“Amy Farrah Fowler,” Amy said, holding out her hand for him to shake.

“Now, please have a seat. I’ll talk you through what we’ve _agreed_ upon,” he shot Sergeant Cooper a look.

“Alright,” Amy said. Looking between the two men wearily.

“Alright, I’ll give you the brief version then,” Captain Gablehauser said. Amy nodded.

“Preliminary investigation at your laboratory shows no signs of forced entry, so it’s safe to assume that the break-in was done by someone with access to the building. And while the cage containing one of your test subjects was found empty, there was no blood found in or around the cage. The test subject might still be alive. The blood used to write the message with was that of a Capuchin monkey, but it was mixed with an EDTA. Our investigation team found a fridge filled with vails of blood, it’s safe to assume the criminal used one of those to write the message with,” he said.

Amy sighed in relief. Ricky might still be alive.

“That’s a relief,” she said, a small smile on her face.

“Yes, well…” Captain Gablehauser halted. “Since we don’t know who might be behind this, we need to see that you are protected from any harm. We have come up with a plan as to not make it look too suspicious that we tail you at all times.”

“At all times?” Amy repeated. She wasn’t liking where this was going.

“We could still set up the safe house, Captain,” Sergeant Cooper interrupted him. “I don’t think you should be forcing her to continue to go to work just so you can draw out the criminal.”

“We’ve discussed this, Cooper,” Captain Gablehauser’s tone was firm.

“Doctor Fowler,” he said, much more softly this time. “We have multiple ways to go about this. We need more time to look through your interactions – with who, what you discussed, etc – but the fastest way to catch this person is to keep on living your life as if nothing has happened. Sergeant Cooper knows this too.”

The two men shared an intense look.

“Word will get out that there was a break-in, there’s no stopping that,” Captain Gablehauser continued. “People will come by your lab to ask questions, and you should be prepared to lie to them. Meanwhile we have come up with a solution to explain why you have an officer in your proximity, as well as a way to draw out this potential romantically interested criminal.”

Amy’s brow furrowed.

“And what solution is this?” she asked, afraid of the answer already. She had a feeling this was going to be like a plot out of one of her Harlequin romance novels and she didn’t know if she liked that.

“One of our officers will pose as your romantic partner – we’ll come up with a backstory tomorrow.”

Amy gaped at the captain.

“What a cliché. I’m sure no one would believe I suddenly have a boyfriend… I never mentioned anyone to any of my colleagues,” she said, blushing. Why was she in a room filled with men when they suggested this? Was _this_ what they had been discussing just now?

“I’m sure there’s a story we could spin that would make that believable,” Captain Gablehauser said. “I’ve been told you mostly keep to yourself, so it’s not like anyone could really be surprised to find out something about your personal life.”

Amy gawked at the men around her. Surely one of them would speak up? This plan was preposterous.

It seemed none of them was going to open their mouths and talk back.

“I must say, Captain Gablehauser, it would have been nice to have been involved in this decision,” Amy couldn’t help but snap. “Do I at least have a say in who’s going to be my pretend boyfriend?”

“We haven’t decided anything yet, Doctor Fowler,” Captain Gablehauser was quick to correct her. “There are other options; we could let you get on with your life without an armed officer in the vicinity. This criminal could be anyone you work with, or has access to the building. I’ve been told the security is lacking, so that could be anyone. Or we could set up a safe house and have you stay there in solitary until we find this stalker. Right now we have absolutely no leads. It could be months.”

Amy stared at the man. He had a point. But still.

“Alright,” Amy conceded.

Captain Gablehauser nodded at her. “As for the ‘pretend boyfriend’, as you so eloquently put it,” he continued, “Sergeant Cooper volunteered.”

Amy’s head swivelled around fast. She stared at the sergeant. For some inexplicable reason, her stomach constricted with nerves. He merely blinked at her.

She turned back to the captain. “I’d rather have someone else,” she said with as much determination as she could muster. “Sir,” she added.

She didn’t know what it was about the sergeant, but he made her feel nervous and inferior. And not just because he kept referring to her as _Miss_ instead of _Doctor_. His constant staring made her stomach churn, and his overpowering presence was surely going to drive her mad if he was to be around her at all times.

Sergeant Cooper scoffed. “Who would you rather have do the honours, Doctor Fowler?” he sneered. “Detective Hofstadter, for instance? I’m sure he’s a much better choice, since he’s 7 inches shorter and near-sighted.”

“Hey!” Detective Hofstadter said indignantly. “I’m 5 and half inches shorter than you.”

Sergeant Cooper rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t matter, the two of you wouldn’t make a convincing couple anyway,” he said.

“And the two of us would?” Amy cried out, unable to understand the situation she was in.

“I can kinda see it,” Wolowitz interjected, looking between the both of them.

Amy was liking him less and less with each passing minute. She would rather have anyone else besides Sergeant Cooper to pose as her love interest. And he _volunteered_? Why?

“I can assure you Sergeant Cooper is great at his job, Doctor Fowler,” Captain Gablehauser said, coming between them all. “He is a sergeant for a reason. And he’s also one of my finest marksmen.”

The image of Sergeant Cooper firing a gun entered her mind, and for some reason her heart palpitated.

“He already knows the case,” Captain Gablehauser continued. “Plus, he has some other qualities that would come in handy for this job.”

_Like what, an arrogant demeanour?_ Amy wanted to ask. It seemed like she was fighting a losing battle with this.

“I’m sure he has,” Amy mumbled angrily.

“That settles it then!” Captain Gablehauser clapped in his hands, “Now, let’s get on to business. We need to get the story straight – Hofstadter, you can ask Officer Bloom for his insights, he’s great with these kind of things – and Wolowitz can finish up the security systems. Doctor Fowler, you and Cooper come with me please.”

Amy looked at Sergeant Cooper fleetingly. He wasn’t looking at her, but staring at Captain Gablehauser instead. He looked unamused. Amy wondered if he had _volunteered_ to be her pretend-boyfriend after all, or maybe it was a way of Captain Gablehauser to put him in his place. The two of them seemed to butt heads. She would have to ask Penny if she had the chance.

She followed Captain Gablehauser to his office, Sergeant Cooper let her go in first. He closed the door behind him.

“Please,” Captain Gablehauser indicated to the empty chairs in front of him.

Amy took a seat. Sergeant Cooper remained standing, and it wasn’t until Captain Gablehauser gave him a look that he sat down as well.

“Doctor Fowler,” Captain Gablehauser started, taking on a gentle tone. “I understand that undercover work might be the last thing on your mind after your shocking discovery this morning, but it truly is the best course of action.”

He had obviously had some sort of training in speaking to victims or traumatized people. His soothing tone did help a little.

“I just don’t know if I can be convincing, Sir,” Amy said. “I’ve never done any acting, and pretending to be romantically involved with Sergeant Cooper here is going to be quite a challenge.”

Sergeant Cooper huffed. He crossed his arms and looked away, shaking his head in derision. It only fuelled Amy’s anger.

Captain Gablehauser just laughed.

“We’ll keep the story simple, so you won’t mess up and are consistent in what you tell the people who ask,” he continued. He completely ignored Sergeant Cooper. “With Cooper here posing as your love-interest, his presence around you and your laboratory won’t be suspicious. Think of him as a bodyguard of sorts.”

Amy furrowed her brow. “Do you think I need one, Sir?”

Sergeant Cooper spoke up. “Someone wrote an ominous message with the blood of your beloved monkey at your place of work, I think it’s safe to say that you _are_ in need of protection yes,” he said, mocking her again.

Captain Gablehauser cleared his throat. “He won’t be around all the time, but we’ll install cameras and microphones in case this person comes back. If that were to happen, we would want you to be prepared. Are you at all skilled in physical combat?”

Dread was spreading through her body. This was beginning to get really serious, really fast. Amy had been so preoccupied by the thought of having a pretend boyfriend in the form of an obnoxious police officer (as if anyone would ever think she’d go out with a _cop_ ), that she completely forgot why she needed the bodyguard to begin with.

The threat. Ricky, missing. She racked her brain again. Was their anyone she could have angered this much that they’d leave such a message at her place of work?

“Doctor Fowler?”

Amy snapped out of her train of thought. “Ehm, I took a self-defence class when I started Harvard years ago. You know, in case of rapists,” she said. “No one wanted to rape me though, so I haven’t used any of it in years.”

She chuckled slightly, but both men just looked at her.

“Can you shoot?” Captain Gablehauser replied, instead of responding to her self-deprecating joke.

“Shoot what?” Amy asked, confused. “Pictures?”

“No, hoops,” Sergeant Cooper snipped. “ _Guns._ Can you shoot a gun?”

Amy blushed. “I’m against the National Firearms Act,” she said defiantly. “So, no.”

“We’ll take you to the shooting range tomorrow then,” Sergeant Cooper said.

Amy stared at him. _Had he not just heard her say she was against people bearing guns?_

“Excuse me –“ she piped up.

“It’s not up for discussion, I’m afraid,” Captain Gablehauser interrupted her. “You’ll be issued a firearm, and you should know how to use it.”

Amy glared at him. “Are there any other principles I should part from, Sir?” she asked, not at all polite.

“Perhaps,” he said. “But if all goes well, you won’t have to keep up this charade for too long.”

_If all goes well…_

“And if it doesn’t?” Amy asked, fearing the answer.

“Then we’ll be having Christmas dinner with my mother in Texas,” Sergeant Cooper said smugly. “Bring a dress appropriate for church.”

Amy looked at him in shock. He didn’t even look like he was kidding.

**To be continued**


	5. The Missed Shot

**Chapter 4**

**The Missed Shot**

Amy felt uncomfortable in her sport leggings and t-shirt. When she had asked what to wear for the appointment, she had hoped the answer would be “ _what you’re wearing now is fine”_.

It wasn’t.

So now, she was dressed like she did when she went to her Thursday yoga class but with sneakers instead of bare feet. She pulled up at the address Sergeant Cooper had given her the day before. Before she left the car, she looked in the rear-view mirror at her reflection. The bags under her eyes were minimal.

She had slept surprisingly well.

Wolowitz had shown her all the security measures he had set up – there were a lot – and they had tested the hotline with the precinct twice. Amy didn’t feel unsafe in her home now, but it was the sheer exhaustion that lulled her into sleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

When she had pulled back the covers to crawl into bed, her eyes zeroed in on the vibrator she had hidden there. The earlier blush had returned immediately. As well as the strange, uncomfortable feeling she felt when she thought about Sergeant Cooper.

Bracing herself for whatever she would be facing inside, she grabbed her bag and exited the car.

Sergeant Cooper was waiting for her in the lobby, and she almost didn’t recognize him out of uniform. He looked almost boyish. He wore tracksuit pants, they were paired with a black t-shirt with a lightning bolt logo on it. It looked strangely familiar, maybe it was some sort of energy drink.

He looked up when the doors opened and she walked in. She expected him to check her out, but his eyes zeroed in on her face.

“Good morning,” he nodded at her, his eyes flitting over her face.

“Morning,” Amy said, flushing from his intense gaze. It was different now, without Captain Gablehauser, Detective Hofstadter or Wolowitz present.

“Are you well-rested?” he asked.

“As well as I can be for 10 o’clock on a Sunday,” she said. Sergeant Cooper assessed her.

“What meant to say was, you were able to fall asleep? You weren’t scared or afraid of break-ins?” he clarified.

“No, I was able to fall asleep fine,” Amy said.

“Good,” Sergeant Cooper nodded. “Wolowitz debriefed me after leaving your place last night, and he assured me all the equipment is up and running. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you were able to rest too.”

Amy was so surprised by his sudden kind approach to her, that she didn’t know how to respond. Was this because they were supposed to be pretending to be a couple the upcoming days? Or – God forbid – _weeks_?

“Thank you,” she said, unable to keep the quizzical look from her face.

“You need to be rested and utmost vigilant when handling a gun,” he added.

She felt an inexplicable pang of disappointment in her chest. He hadn’t been interested in her well-being, he was just concerned for his own safety since he would be learning her to shoot a gun.

“Right,” she said.

“Shall we then?” he asked, mentioning to the desk at the front. He flashed his badge at the receptionist while Amy handed over her ID and filled out a waiver. She tried not to read it through too thoroughly. Her stomach felt uneasy.

She wasn’t a fan of guns. Never had been, but especially after the armed robbery she had experienced as a teenager. The robber took just her wallet, she didn’t even have a mobile phone at the time, but just thinking of looking down the barrel of a gun gave her the chills.

The girl behind the counter walked over to a locked cabinet behind her, and pulled out a box. She unlocked the extra lock on it.

“It’s says here you can take this home with you after today,” she said, handing it to Amy. “We have extra magazines inside.”

Amy’s heartrate ticked up.

“Alright,” she mumbled. She looked at Sergeant Cooper sideways. “Aren’t you getting a gun too?”

He looked at her with that look he had given to her a lot of times before in the short time they had known each other. “I brought my own,” he said, indicating to a bag she hadn’t noticed before.

“Right,” Amy said. Sergeant Cooper looked at her quizzically.

“Are you nervous?” he asked.

“A little,” Amy admitted, blushing. God, if could she just _stop_ blushing in his presence? That would be great.

He just nodded. “That’s to be expected, if you’re afraid of guns,” he said, walking ahead of her down the hall.

Amy stared at him. What nice, comforting words. She walked after him, and they were silent when they put on safety goggles and earmuffs.

Sergeant Cooper led her to the middle of the room; there was no one around. Amy could see why; who would come in on a Sunday morning to practice shooting?

On the other side of the room they were in were several targets, some in the form of human silhouettes. They were facing a traditional circle with several rings inside, each smaller than the one before. Amy couldn’t see it properly, but it appeared to be a paper target instead of something firm. She didn’t really know what she expected.

He indicated for her to take off the ear muffs, lowering the ones he wore to his shoulders.

“Alright, let’s see what they’ve given you,” he said, opening the box for her. He pulled out a handgun, relatively small and incredibly familiar.

“This is a Glock 17,” he said, holding the gun up for inspection. “It’s a semi-automatic pistol. It scores high on all safety and reliability tests.”

Amy guessed he was trying to ease her mind, but it wasn’t really helping. A chill went down her spine.

“These are common, aren’t they?” she asked.

“Yes,” he answered. “Law enforcers use them, as well as the Feds. But a lot of civilians have them as well.”

He showed her how to load and unload the gun with a magazine. Amy watched in fascination how his fingers worked. “Now, I’m going to show you how to unlock it, and how to shoot it,” he said.

She put her earmuffs back on. Sergeant Cooper reloaded the gun with the magazine he had just removed and took a wider stance next to her. He raised both his hands, his left holding the gun steady.

_BANG!_

Amy had expected the noise, but she still jumped when he fired the first shot.

_BANG! BANG!_

Sergeant Cooper turned to look at her, and removed his left hand from the gun. He raised just his right arm this time, and fired off more bullets into the target.

_BANG! BANG!_

He removed the magazine from the gun again, and pressed a button on the partition to his right, and the target came swooshing towards them on a cable. All five shots were in the middle of the target, only millimetres apart. Amy stared at the target. They had to be about 60 feet between them and the target. His shooting was insanely accurate.

Sergeant Cooper tapped on her shoulder to get her attention. Amy’s stomach swooped at the unexpected contact. He indicated for her to remove her earmuffs, and Amy removed them with shaking fingers.

“This is impressive,” she said, indicating to the paper target.

Sergeant Cooper shrugged. “I’ve been shooting for over 20 years, I’ve had a lot of practice,” he said, not responding to her compliment.

“Twenty years?” Amy repeated. He didn’t look a day over 35. Twenty years seemed a bit much.

“I was raised in Texas,” he said, like it explained everything. “My father taught me to shoot a rifle when I was 9.”

“For hunting?” Amy couldn’t help but ask.

“For competitions, for fun,” he said dismissively. “For protection,” he added darkly.

Amy thought there was probably something he wasn’t telling her here. Sergeant Cooper cleared his throat.

“Alright,” he said. “Before we start, do you have any other questions regarding the gun?”

Amy shook her head. It looked easy enough. She positioned the earmuffs on her head again, and carefully took the gun from him. Her fingers shook when she grabbed the magazine from the table in front of them.

She could do this. _She could._ Standing next to Sergeant Cooper while he fired a gun didn’t do anything to trigger some past trauma, so why wouldn’t she be able to fire a gun herself?

It was just a precaution, learning how to use a gun, she told herself. There was no way to know for sure she would be firing it as well. At a _person._

Her hands shook more and more. She tried to put the magazine in the gun, but she was shaking too much to succeed.

Sergeant Cooper’s hand closed around her hand, taking the gun from her. Amy looked up at him and quickly diverted her eyes. He must think she was a loser. He tapped her shoulder again, indicating her to remove her earmuffs again.

Amy took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

“I can see that you’re nervous,” he said. “If you want, we can start with the physical combat training first. But shooting is best when you aren’t physically tired.”

Amy had wondered why he had told her to bring a change of clothes and a towel. She had assumed it was in case she would have the nervous sweats – like now – but apparently they were going to do more than just shooting a gun.

She didn’t know what she wanted out of the way more.

Sergeant Cooper narrowed his eyes at her. “Have you had a traumatic experience with guns?”

Amy breathed out slowly again. “I was robbed at gunpoint,” she mumbled. “Years ago.”

Sergeant Cooper remained silent, he merely assessed her. “I’m only teaching you how to use a gun so you can protect yourself from someone who is out to harm you,” he spoke almost kindly. “The odds of you having to use it are very slim. But just in case, you would want to be able to defend yourself.”

“I am fully capable of understanding the reasons for me to learn how to shoot, officer,” she snapped. “Just because I understand the logic, doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother me.”

She was pissed off. And she wasn’t sure if she was mad at him or mad at herself for getting so nervous. Angrily, she covered her ears once more with the earmuffs.

She held out her hand for the gun, staring at the sergeant defiantly. He merely raised his eyebrows, but handed her the gun. He repositioned his earmuffs on his head.

Amy’s hand shook only a little now – more with residual anger than nerves or fear – and she pushed the magazine in the bottom of the gun. She turned to face the targets at sixty feet away.

The gun felt weird in her hands. She had expected it to feel heavier than it did. Exhaling slowly, she widened her stance a little, planting her feet firmly in the ground. Amy mimicked the sergeants movements, moving her arm up in a straight line. She looked around the barrel of the gun. There was no way of saying she was aiming right.

_Well,_ she thought, _here goes nothing._

She pulled the trigger.

_BANG!_

She hadn’t expected a lot of things. The gunshot sounded louder this close, despite the earmuffs. _What would it sound like without them?_ She also hadn’t expected the recoil to be this bad either. She also thought her aim was way off.

The rush of adrenaline through her veins was the most unexpected.

Amy glanced at Sergeant Cooper next to her. He gave her a firm nod and intended for her to shoot again.

She did.

_BANG! BANG!_

Sergeant Cooper tapped on her shoulder, and she removed the magazine from the bottom of the gun before lowering her earmuffs.

“Well? How to you feel?” he asked, his eyes moving over her face.

Amy shrugged. She wasn’t sure. It was almost exciting, firing a gun. “Alright, I think,” she murmured.

“Good,” Sergeant Cooper said. “Your aim is terrible, we need to work on that.” He pushed the button on the partition again, and her target came swooshing towards them via the cable.

She looked at the target. Only one hole was visible on the far bottom corner of the paper.

“But I shot three bullets?” she said, looking at the sergeant.

He was biting his lip – she presumed to keep himself from laughing. He coughed and turned his face impassive again. “The other two missed the target,” he said, the corners of his mouth ticking up slightly.

“Oh,” Amy blushed.

Sergeant Cooper cleared his throat. “You won’t be shooting at such a distance anyway, this was just to see what the baseline is. I’ll correct your stance,” he said.

He pressed a different button on the partition, and target swivelled back but came to a halt about halfway across the room.

“This distance is still too much. Should you ever come in a fight, your opponent would be much closer. But if you can hit the target from this distance, you’ll do alright when the other is closer,” he spoke as if they weren’t talking about the possibility of Amy ending up in a _gunfight_ with a still unknown stalker.

She decided not to think about that too much either. “Could you show me again? I don’t think I looked well enough the last time,” she asked.

Sergeant Cooper nodded. Amy watched him load the gun again, and her eyes moved from his hands to his arms. She watched him stretch out his arms, and the muscles in his lower and upper arm moved as he did. The triceps of his left arms were tensed, and her eyes were just moving to his shoulder, when she jumped up by the sudden sound.

_BANG!_

She hadn’t been paying attention. _What was wrong with her?_ Had she just been ogling his arms as he shot at the target? Why had she even asked him?

Sergeant Cooper looked at her sideways. “The keys is to aim slightly higher than the actual target,” he said, raising his voice a little. Amy heard it loud and clear. She was blushing still.

Maybe the fact that the last (and only) man she had been with was so long ago was affecting her. That had to be it. She was looking at a blatant display of testosterone right now after all; bulging muscles, the sounds of gunshots, his completely focussed demeanour as he fired shot after shot with precision.

_Was this turning her on?_

She had to stop looking at him. That was all. She tapped his shoulder this time to get his attention, and Sergeant Cooper stiffened under her hand.

“Can I?” she asked, slightly louder to make herself heard over the earmuffs. Sergeant Cooper nodded. He handed her the gun and Amy took her stance.

She eyed the target, it was closer now, but still pretty far away. She lifted her arms and aimed for the centre of the circles. Then, she lifted her hands a little higher, as instructed.

_BANG!_

The recoil still caught her off guard. It was impossible to see if she hit the target better this time. She turned to look at Sergeant Cooper, a hopeful look on her face.

He looked at her stoically.

“You missed again, here let me correct your stance,” he said.

Amy didn’t know what to expect, but she had _not_ expected him to step up behind her, flush against her back as he took hold of her arms. She nearly dropped the gun at the sudden feel of him pressed up against her.

Her heart rate quickened and her palms became sweaty almost instantly.

“You’re aiming too low, still,” he said, and Amy could _feel_ the vibrations from his chest against her shoulder blades.

He moved her arms up a little, his hands on her wrist. Surely he was able to feel her heart beating rapidly with his thumb on her pulse point there.

“Try again,” he said. It must have been the earmuffs that made his voice sound this low and dare she say… _seductive?_

She was really losing it. Her sanity. This man was insufferable and annoying and condescending. It was just the proximity of him that made her a little worked-up. That was all.

She exhaled slowly, and tried to focus on how she was aiming the gun instead. It seemed way off, but she pulled the trigger regardless. Amy bumped into his solid chest when the recoil hit her. Her stomach constricted.

Sergeant Cooper moved her hands back into the position. “Try to looking at where you’re aiming right now,” his voice resonated through her. “You can see that’s about an inch higher than where you want the bullet to go, because the second you pull the trigger, you automatically lower your hands a little.”

Amy tried to listen to him – and not just because having him this close to her was confusing her – and look again how she had positioned her hands. It looked okay to her, how she had positioned the gun.

She nodded, more to warn him that she would be firing another bullet.

_BANG!_

He let go of her hands and took a step back. She turned towards him, but he was already busy with the target that came swooshing towards them. Amy looked at it; she had hit the target at least, and the bullets were near the centre this time.

“See?” Sergeant Cooper said. “Now, try again.”

They continued for a long time; Amy had shot at least three whole magazines empty at the end. Sergeant Cooper kept correcting her stance and the position of her arms and she got better every time. Each time he stepped up behind her to move her arms around – sometimes she didn’t even notice he had changed the position, but apparently it was a precision thing – a thrill went through her.

She really should start to look into online dating again, since the closeness of any man was enough to turn her into a puddle of mush nowadays.

When she had managed to shoot in the middle of the target – well, within an inch of it – for three times, Sergeant Cooper tapped her shoulder again.

“That’s enough for today,” he said.

She removed the magazine from the gun and locked up the box.

“You’re a quick student, Doctor Fowler,” he said.

“Thanks?” Amy said, the question evident in her voice. She wasn’t used to him being nice. She removed her goggles and earmuffs when she saw him do the same.

“Now, let’s find out if you’re equally fast in learning physical combat.”

**To be continued**


	6. The Low Blow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter mentions rape.

**Chapter 5**

**The Low Blow**

Amy was happy to have a moment to herself. She ate a granola bar and had some water in what she assumed was a sort of locker room.

She needed to take a few calming breaths after that rush of adrenaline. Whether it was from shooting a gun, or the fact that Sergeant Cooper had been pressed up against her for quite some time, she didn’t know. After the whole disappointing encounter with Faisal, she had decided that maybe men and sex weren’t for her. But her body had different ideas, apparently. It seemed to respond to the proximity of a man now, at least.

Perhaps she should look into dating again when this whole deal was over. Apparently, she was more popular than she had ever thought possible.

She pulled an elastic out of her bag and tied back her hair. _Physical combat._ She didn’t really know what to expect. Or whether it was a feasible thing to try to teach her to fight. They didn’t really expect her to be able to beat up someone after just one morning of training? If that was even what they were going be doing now.

She took another deep breath and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her cheeks were still a little flushed, and she still felt warm from the earlier things they had done. It had been thrilling, shooting a gun. And it went completely against everything she stood for.

Figuring she would just have to get it over with – whatever training Sergeant Cooper had prepared for her – she walked out of the locker room into a sort of gymnasium. The room seemed to be divided in two parts. Half of the floor was lined with mats, Amy assumed to break a fall. Sergeant Cooper was rolling in a standing punching bag.

“Alright,” he said, “you mentioned you had some sort of self-defence training in the past. Let’s see what you still remember.”

Amy looked at the punching bag wearily. She hadn’t learned to punch for one thing.

“I never learned to punch,” she said. “We just did exercises on how to get out of holds; you know, when someone grabs you from whatever angle.”

Sergeant Cooper nodded. “Okay,” he said. “We can start with that.”

_What?_

“Start with what?” Amy asked, but in the back of her mind she already knew the answer.

“I’ll take hold of you, and you’ll show me how to break free,” he said slowly, as if she was deliberately being obtuse.

He had walked over to the part of the gym where the floor was lined with mats. Amy walked over to him. When she had had her self-defence class, the people ‘attacking’ her had been fellow women, and none of them had been rather rough with her. She couldn’t imagine the sergeant being gentle with her.

An image flashed in her mind – very briefly – where he wasn’t gentle with her at all; her hair pulled back by one of his hands, her own hands cuffed above her head, while he stared at her with that penetrating gaze of his, as he held her down with his other hand and he - - -

She blinked rapidly. What was _that?_

Her legs shook a little when she came to a halt in front of him. Without a further warning, both his hands grasped her wrists firmly. Amy blinked up at him.

“We’re starting already?” she asked. He was much too close. It wasn’t helping to keep her earlier fantasies at bay.

“Your attacker won’t be doing a count-down, Miss Fowler,” he said snidely.

Amy glared at him. He was riling her up on purpose, calling her _Miss_ instead of _Doctor._ It was working, because she pulled on her hand firmly, but his grip was too strong for her. She struggled against his hold for a little while longer. He wouldn’t budge.

“It’s a good thing those rapists never came after you, because they would have had their way with you easily,” Sergeant Cooper said darkly.

“Hey!” Amy said indignantly. She tried to pull her wrists away again, but without any success.

“Seriously, did you pay for this class? You might as well have been walking around campus without underwear,” he continued.

Amy felt her face heat up. She didn’t know if it was because of his way of riling her up, or because he was talking about her _without underwear._

She struggled against his hold some more, more determined than ever to struggle free of his grasp. She knew there was a way to get loose from his hold, but she didn’t remember.

“Although, those leopard-print panties are as much as an invitation as walking around partly naked.”

Amy actually growled, and instead of trying to get her wrists loose, she lifted her knee, intending to kick him or knee him in his groin or whatever.

He was faster than she was, and had to have had anticipated this. He deflected her knee with one of his own legs easily, and in one fluid move, Amy found herself tackled to the ground. Sergeant Cooper had slowed down her fall – or those mats really worked – because she hardly felt the impact of the ground under her. He hung over her, his hands holdings hers down firmly.

His blue eyes looked much darker – and her treacherous brain could only register that he was hanging over her like Faisal had done in those failed attempts at love-making.

“You’re even worse off now, Miss Fowler,” he whispered.

Amy stared at him.

“Come on,” he said firmly. “Try to throw me off.”

Amy didn’t know how. She lay frozen under him, staring at his face. He was much too close. Was she supposed to pretend to be in a relationship with this man? How on earth would she be able to manage that?

“I don’t know how,” she admitted, hoping her voice didn’t sound as insecure as she felt.

“Try to knee me again,” he began, “but _don’t_ aim for my groin. Aim for my gut, and use the momentum to roll out under me.”

Amy looked at him wearily. Was he being helpful? Or was he using her insecure disposition to mock her some more?

“You’ll have to use a lot of power to actually hurt me, I wouldn’t worry about that. And if you’re ever under attack, I don’t want you to hold back either,” he continued when he saw her hesitance.

Amy kept laying still. Kneeing him in the gut sounded painful, no matter how tough he thought he was – or how weak he thought she was. Sergeant Cooper seemed to have lost his patience with her.

“I would have had my dick inside you by now,” he murmured. “Are you going to fight back?”

Her hands were moved upwards, and he grasped both her wrists with just one hand. He raised his eyebrows at her as if to say ‘ _Well, are you?’_ , and his now free hand came to rest on her thigh. Amy’s eyes widened in shock.

“Fight me,” Sergeant Cooper ordered, his hand now on the waistband of her yoga pants.

A sort of lethargic scream left her throat, and she kneed his gut with the most force she had in her. Sergeant Cooper groaned and cowered, but Amy had freed her hands in the momentum of it. She rolled to her right, shoving him to her left at the same time.

Amy crawled on her feet – shaking and filled with adrenaline.

Sergeant Cooper was already standing and panting slightly. “You _can_ fight back, I see,” he said, and his eyes seemed to sparkle. “Now, this would have been the opportune time for you to either run away as fast as you can and hide, or fight me when I’m still on the ground.”

Amy was still catching her breath herself, her chest heaved. She really didn’t know what to make of this man. Had he just been provoking her just now? Of course he wasn’t actually going to rape her (would it be rape if she was kind of into it though?), but the way he had been staring at her had been intense.

And the feel of his hand on her thigh had caused her heartrate to quicken.

“Where should I have hit you?” she asked, trying to close her mind off the conflicting feelings running through her.

He approached her, and she automatically took a step back.

“A blow to the neck can knock someone out,” he said, indicating to the point where his neck met his shoulder, “if you’re looking to harm but not knock out, I’d advise punches to the face and jaw. And knees to the gut or groin.”

“You just told me _not_ to knee your groin,” Amy said.

Sergeant Cooper grinned. “I’d like to give my mother grandchildren one day,” he smirked.

Amy blushed in spite of herself.

“Let me show you how to twist your arms out of a hold,” he continued when he came to a halt in front of her.

“Grab my wrists,” he instructed. Amy did as she was told, and it was strange to do so. Everything between them felt strange, filled with tension somehow. He proceeded to show her how to twist his arms out of her hold; turning the smallest part of his wrist to the open part between her fingers and pulling them free in one swift move.

“You try it,” he said, grabbing her wrists once more.

Amy pulled her hands free, but he wasn’t holding her as firmly as before. Perhaps he regretted those rape comments. They had been over the line, but apparently what she needed to actually fight back.

“And now pull yourself free, and hit me right after,” he said. “But not the face! I don’t think I’d make a convincing boyfriend to your co-workers if I show up with a black eye.”

Amy blinked at him. She had been so wrapped up in this training, that she had forgotten for a second they were going to be doing that charade.

“Right,” she said.

“Okay,” he replied. “I’m going to come at you and I will tackle you to the ground, and you’re going to throw me off, and hit me any way you can. Okay?”

Amy nodded. She felt her heartrate quicken already as she watched Sergeant Cooper take a few steps away from her, presumably to run at her. He gave her one of his penetrating gazes again, before he accelerated quickly and ran at her.

Amy froze in shock. _Again._

“Either move or brace yourself,” Sergeant Cooper warned her as he got closer to her.

It was a disaster.

She was brought down to the floor in seconds, unable to do anything against his incoming attack. Sergeant Cooper hung over her again, her hands pressed down to the floor next to her once more.

“You do realise I’m holding back?” he asked, looking at her like he didn’t understand why she hadn’t moved when he came at her.

“Yes,” Amy huffed, trying unsuccessfully to get his arms to budge.

“Then why did you let me tackle you?” he pressed on.

“I froze up, okay!” Amy practically shouted. “I don’t know what to do! You can’t just tell me you’re going to come at me and then just expect me that I know how to deflect it.”

He moved off her and pulled her up by her hand. Amy got off the ground inelegantly.

“When someone charges at you, you can do two things; you either let them, or you don’t,” he said. Amy furrowed her brow at him.

“What?” she asked, nonplussed.

“Both options could work to your advantage,” he continued. “If someone were to come at you, intending to grab your waist –“ he mimicked the movement with his hands, “you can let them, with them closer to you, it’s easier to knee or kick someone in the groin.”

His hands closed around her waist and he pulled her closer. Amy stumbled a little and her hands pushed at his arms. The muscles there bulged under her fingers. Her stomach swooped.

“See how you can knee me easily like this?” Sergeant Cooper asked, oblivious to her increased heartrate. Amy nodded, and she raised her knee towards his crotch slowly.

“There’s no need to actually do it,” he said quickly, twisting his hips away from her.

Amy chuckled.

“The other option would be to take my speed as an advantage, either move away at the last minute, or punch me in the gut, right here,” he continued, grabbing her hand from his arm and moving it to his solar plexus.

Amy bit her lip. Why did this all feel so strangely intimate?

“Alright,” she mumbled.

“You don’t have the upper body strength to throw me off, so we have to use your small stature to your advantage,” Sergeant Cooper said, “so either you duck, run, punch or kick. But don’t try to throw me off.”

Amy nodded.

“Are you ready to try again?”

She really didn’t see what choice she had. She took another deep breath, and gave him another firm nod. Sergeant Cooper came at her again, and Amy sidestepped his incoming attack at the last minute. He turned on his heel, panting slightly.

“Good,” he said.

She was unprepared to have him coming at her again almost immediately. His hands took hold of her arms and his right foot hooked behind her ankle, intending to tackle her again. Amy jumped up before he had the chance to bring her down. She brought her left leg up and kneed him in his side, intending to aim for his kidney. 

Sergeant Cooper groaned – and Amy’s eyes moved to him face in shock. She opened her mouth to apologize to him, but her apology turned into a yelp when he tackled her to the ground.

She pulled her right hand loose from his grip, and weakly punched his chest.

“You can do better,” Sergeant Cooper panted, grabbing her fist mid-air and pinning her down.

Amy narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance, he was riling her up, she knew that. But it annoyed her to no end. Her eyes shifted from his face downwards. He was hovering above her, but he hadn’t pinned her legs down like the last time.

As quickly as she could, she pulled her leg in and half-kicked him in his gut, kicking him off her.

Sergeant Cooper didn’t see this coming. His hands let go off her wrists in shock, but Amy guessed his reflexes were fast after years of working as a police officer. He grabbed her arms none too gently, and Amy flew through the air after him. She landed on top of him roughly.

“Oof!” Sergeant Cooper exhaled loudly from the impact.

Amy tried to move of him – she was _laying on top of him_ and her brain couldn’t handle it – and she scrambled up from his torso. Before she could make a run for it, her arms were twisted behind her back by Sergeant Cooper. He was sitting up slightly to be able to pin her arms on her back.

Both of them were breathing harshly and Amy felt the adrenaline rush through her veins.

She stared at him. He looked back at her, his eyes wide and burning. His face was slightly pink, but otherwise he looked completely unaffected by their wrestling just now.

Unlike her. Their roughhousing had affected her a great deal, especially now that she realised she was practically straddling him. Amy opened her mouth to say something, _anything_ , but her brain was short-circuiting.

Sergeant Cooper stared at her, and his grip on her upper arms increased a little.

A shrill, loud ringtone startled the both of them. Amy jumped up on top of him.

“That’s the station,” Sergeant Cooper said after a beat. He lifted her off him easily, and Amy landed on her bottom to his left. He was already sprinting towards his bag in the corner of the room. Amy watched him go.

He had been holding back the entire time. He had just lifted her off him like she weighed next to nothing. She felt heat burn in her lower belly. It took her half a second to realise what that was.

_Good Lord, she was aroused._

Her face flushed with embarrassment. It had to be the blatant manliness of him, she decided. The strength and the testosterone practically oozing out of him. That was it. She wasn’t attracted to him. That thought was preposterous.

“Cooper,” she heard him say, his back was to her.

“No, we’re done at the shooting range for now,” he looked over his shoulder, and Amy awkwardly scrambled up from the ground.

“I was going to teach her how to throw an actual punch, but if we’re needed at the station as soon as possible, I guess that can wait, Sir.”

Amy couldn’t help but hope that there might be some news on Ricky. _As soon as possible_ could be a really good thing. Or something really bad.

“We’ll be there in 40 minutes,” he said, before hanging up.

“We have to go?” Amy asked.

Sergeant Cooper grabbed his bag from the ground and turned around. “Yes, Gablehauser wants to go over the plan for the upcoming week. Apparently his wife doesn’t like him working on Sundays so he wants it done as soon as possible.”

“Oh,” Amy replied. Her hope was gone in seconds. “I had hoped there might be some news on Ricky.”

Sergeant Cooper only shook his head.

“The station isn’t that far from here, is it?” Amy asked, instead of thinking about Ricky too long.

“No, it’s about 15 minutes,” Sergeant Cooper said. “I figured you probably wanted to shower first? I know I do.”

Amy spent her entire time in the shower thinking about the fact that Sergeant Cooper was equally naked and showering, with just a wall between the two of them.

**To be continued**


	7. The Opening Act

**Chapter 6**

**The Opening Act**

Amy’s alarm rang insistently on Monday morning. She had again slept soundly, only waking up when Garfield decided to play with her feet in the middle of the night. She should have gotten involved in a break-in much sooner, she mused. The sheer exhaustion of working with police officers gave her the best night’s sleep she had had in months.

They had gone over the plan yesterday with Captain Gablehauser. It seemed one of their colleagues, Officer Bloom, had devised them a story that sounded even somewhat plausible to Amy’s ears.

And Captain Gablehauser had guaranteed her that if things were really getting out of hand, she would be able to go to a safe house as a last resort. It was somewhat comforting.

Amy opened her laptop to read over some of the reviews left by her loyal readers to her latest fanfiction when her doorbell rang. She closed the laptop quickly, and her stomach did summersaults. _This was it._

It had to be Sergeant Cooper at the door, ready to execute their plan.

“Who is it?” she called through the intercom.

“It’s me,” Sergeant Cooper answered.

“Come on up,” she replied, buzzing him in.

Amy took another deep breath, and straightened out her clothes. She knew there could be people at the station watching along with her every move. It felt weird. Wolowitz had set up a hidden camera at her front door and another two in her living room. At least her bathroom and bedroom were camera-free.

She could hear his footsteps in the hall, and she looked through the peephole in her door to see if it was him. A man dressed in khakis, a green t-shirt and a windbreaker walked up to her door. It was Sergeant Cooper alright, but he looked very different.

She guessed he was already in character.

Amy opened the door before he had a chance to knock on the door. “Hi,” she greeted him. He stood there with his arm poised ready to knock. Amy was able to see the brown leather strap of a shoulder holster just visible on his side, due to his lifted arm.

At least he was still carrying a gun. She felt strangely protected.

“Good morning,” he said, his eyes moved over her. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” she said determinedly. She walked back inside to grab her bag. “Oh! I meant to ask, am I supposed to carry the gun with me at all times?”

Sergeant Cooper closed the door with a little more force than necessary. “Watch what you’re saying when there’s a possibility to be overheard,” he said pointedly.

Amy blushed. She hadn’t realised she couldn’t speak freely with her front door open.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. Sergeant Cooper gave her a nod.

“As for the gun,” he said, “I doubt it will be necessary today. My colleagues will be swarming the scene today still, and I told Hofstadter to talk to everyone on your floor to ask about suspicious characters or behaviours.”

“Will he be investigating by himself?” Amy asked. In TV shows they were always investigating in pairs.

“Well, since my part in the investigation has changed, I had to ask another detective to step in,” Sergeant Cooper said. “Detective Winkle is smart enough, albeit it arrogant and obnoxious. She has ehm… _worked_ well with Detective Hofstadter in the past.”

He was obviously implying something. And Amy couldn’t help but think it was a little hypocritical for the sergeant to be calling someone arrogant or obnoxious.

“Right,” Amy said. “I guess I’ll meet her later then.”’

Amy kind of liked the idea of having another woman around, with all the testosterone flying around.

“Doctor Fowler,” Sergeant Cooper started. “You _can_ still back out of this if you feel uncomfortable.”

Amy looked at him. Where was this coming from? She spent her entire weekend in the proximity of this man and his colleagues; being interrogated, embarrassed and yesterday physically challenged and asked to say goodbye to her principles in regards to gun-violence, and _now_ he was telling her to put a stop to it?

“I do feel uncomfortable,” she said, a blush staining her cheeks, “but I also think it’s necessary to catch whoever did this as soon as possible. I don’t want to be intimidated in my place of work. And Captain Gablehauser assured me this was the best way to go about it, so that’s what I’m doing.”

Sergeant Cooper gazed at her.

“Alright,” he finally said. “I assume you’ve gone over the cover-story again?”

“I did,” she said. “Did you?”

Sergeant Cooper looked taken aback. “I didn’t,” he said. “But I have it memorized.” 

Amy furrowed her brow. It didn’t add up. They had discussed the backstory with Captain Gablehauser, and worked out some kinks and added some details. It wasn’t much to learn, but Amy had still taken notes and looked them over again before bed.

Sergeant Cooper had merely listened. It was the second time he hadn’t taken any notes during a time she had expected him to.

“Do you have an eidetic memory?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound too impressed – he was arrogant enough as it was.

“I do,” he replied, tonelessly.

“That must come in handy in your line of work,” she said. He shrugged.

“Although,” Amy continued, looking at him questioningly. “With an eidetic memory your academic possibilities are endless. Didn’t you ever consider going into the hard sciences?”

Sergeant Cooper gave her a look she couldn’t decipher. “We should be going,” was all he said.

* * *

Amy pulled up at the university parking lot with Sergeant Coo- - _Sheldon_ in the shotgun seat. They were in character now after all. And he was not a detective sergeant with the LAPD, but an entrepreneur from Galveston, Texas whom she met online.

“Ready?” he asked, they had barely spoken on the ride over. Amy was nervous to what she would be facing when she walked into the lab.

“I’m kind of anxious,” she admitted. “What if I’m not able to pull it off?”

“You’ll be fine,” he simply said.

“Have you done a lot of undercover work?” she asked, just to keep from going inside.

“You know I can’t disclose any information of my past investigations,” he just answered. “I’m asking you for the final time, are you willing to go through with this?”

He was onto her. Amy sighed.

“Yes, I am,” she said, trying to convince herself now as well.

“For Ricky.”

* * *

His hand felt strange in hers. She never held hands with someone, maybe as a child when she played outside. But not for years. She worried her palm would feel clammy.

It was still early enough and the hallways in the building were empty. Amy swiped her card to open the doors and walked up to her lab. It was crowded with people.

Tape hung across the doors, and she could spot Detective Hofstadter and a female officer with dark curly hair and glasses – Detective Winkle, she presumed – at the door. A handful of her colleagues stood a few feet away from the scene, all of them looking towards the door to see what the fuss was about. Doctor Kibbler was among them.

Apparently she had stopped in her tracks, because Sheldon pulled on her hand softly.

“Come on, darlin’,” he said, his southern accent more noticeable, “you have to get through this.”

Amy blinked at him, taken aback by his words and the look in his eyes. _Right,_ he was playing her romantic interest. She had tried to prepare for this, but being addressed as _darlin’_ was not something they had discussed beforehand and it caused her stomach to churn.

“You’re right,” she mumbled, giving him a small smile. The corner of his mouth ticked up in a half-smile and he winked at her.

They were much too far away for anyone to hear them. Were they supposed to play pretend all the time? It was already exhausting.

“Ah, Doctor Fowler, good morning,” Detective Hofstadter greeted her.

“Hello,” she said, focussing on him and trying her hardest not to glance at her curious colleagues.

“This is Leslie Winkle, she’ll be helping me with the case,” he indicated to the female detective on his left.

“Nice to meet you, officer,” she said, shaking hands with her.

“And you must be the gentleman Doctor Fowler told me about?” Detective Hofstadter asked Sheldon, acting as if he had never seen him before in his life. If she weren’t so nervous about blowing their cover, Amy would have been impressed by their acting.

“I should hope so, this would be a rather awkward time to find out she’s having other men on the side,” Sheldon quipped, squeezing her left hand.

Amy chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Yes, this is Sheldon,” she said, feeling extremely weird.

The men shook hands, and Sheldon squeezed Detective Winkle’s hand a little too firmly to be polite.

“Nice to meet you,” Detective Hofstadter said.

“And you, officer,” Sheldon replied.

“I’d like to have a word with you later on,” Detective Hofstadter said.

“Certainly,” Sheldon nodded. “I trust you’ve taken the appropriate measures in Amy’s lab so a thing like this won’t happen again?”

Amy inhaled rather sharply. It was the first time Sergeant Cooper had said her first name and it was making her blush. He was also playing the part of protective boyfriend really well. Amy had always thought of herself as a feminist. But to have someone – pretend or not – be this concerned with her safety was making her feel strangely warm inside.

“Come on, let’s go inside,” Detective Hofstadter said, glancing at the crowd of onlookers.

The lab looked as it did when Amy left it Friday night. It was cleaned up, and the debris was all gone. As were the letters on the glass partition.

Wolowitz was packing up a suitcase filled with cables and tools.

“Good morning, Doctor Fowler,” he greeted her. “I trust you slept well?”

Amy looked around. The door to the lab was closed now, so there was no need to keep up with the charade, was there? Some other technicians were also walking around, carrying cables and stuff Amy didn’t recognize. Surely they all recognized Sergeant Cooper from the precinct?

“Oh, she did,” the sergeant said, sounding smug. “I made sure of that.”

Amy blushed despite herself. She looked at him sideways. This wasn’t necessary; this allusion to some sort of wild night between the two of them, however consistent with the character they had come up with the day before.

Both Captain Gablehauser and Sergeant Cooper had thought it’d be best if Amy’s pretend boyfriend came of as arrogant and secure about his desirability. The fact that she wouldn’t ever fall for a man like that wasn’t relevant, according to both men.

Amy was willing to fight the patriarchy any day, but this seemed to be a losing battle. So, she had just let it slide.

Wolowitz chuckled. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said, holding out his hand for Sheldon to shake. “Howard Wolowitz.”

“Sheldon Tucker,” he replied, shaking his hand. _Tucker_ was his mother’s maiden name, he had explained the day before.

“Alright,” Detective Hofstadter said. “As you can see, Doctor Fowler, we’ve cleaned up. Sadly, there’s no sign of your missing monkey yet. I will keep you posted. Detective Winkle and I will be around all day, conducting interviews with your colleagues.”

“I’ve set up two cameras in here,” Wolowitz supplied. “So, even when Leonard isn’t around, someone will be watching along. The mics are hidden in multiple corners.”

“Okay,” Amy said with a small voice.

“Well, we’re off,” Wolowitz signalled to the others. “You can contact me any time if you have any questions in regards to the equipment.”

Amy nodded at him. “Mister Tucker,” Wolowitz greeted Sheldon. He just nodded stoically.

“Doctor Fowler,” Detective Hofstadter said, “we’re going to start with the interviews, we’ll check in around lunch time, alright?”

“Alright,” Amy echoed. The whole crew left, and she was alone with her pretend boyfriend in her lab.

The door closed behind Detective Winkle, and he turned to her. “You’re doing great,” he said quietly. “Try to stay in character at all times, even when it’s just us with Leonard and the others. That way it will become like a second nature, and you won’t switch back to calling me ‘officer’, for instance.”

He was totally breaking character pointing this out to her. She decided to call him out.

“And why would I call you that?” Amy asked slyly, “Unless we did some sort of roleplay last night that I don’t remember?”

His eyes darkened a little. “I must be off my game that you don’t remember that much about last night, love,” he fired back quickly. Amy’s heart skipped a beat.

_It’s just pretend,_ she told herself. But the way he stared at her almost made her think otherwise.

Their stare-off was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Amy called out.

Bert’s impressive stature crowded the door, and he looked in uncomfortably.

“Hey Amy,” he said, his usual stoner-voice droning on.

“Hi,” she said, unconsciously taking a step closer to Sergeant Cooper on her left. She hadn’t asked if Wolowitz’s wife had examined the rocks yet. What if they were rigged with listening devices? Bert seemed really harmless, but weren’t it always the innocent looking ones who did these things?

She almost jumped up when she felt Sergeant Coopers hand on her lower back.

“I was just wondering how you were doing,” Bert continued, nonplussed to Amy’s awkward demeanour. “I heard there was a break-in this weekend?”

“Yes, there was,” Amy said. “Thanks for checking in. I’m doing alright, I suppose.”

“Right,” Bert droned on. He looked at Sergeant Cooper. “And who are you?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” he rebutted, his eyes narrowing at him. Instead of answering, he turned to Amy, the hand on her lower back turning her to face him.

“I’ll be late for my appointment if I stay much longer,” he said to her. “I’ll look for that detective first and see if I can help in any way, but then I really must go.”

Amy nodded rapidly.

“My brother will kill me if I don’t make this sale, otherwise I would have stayed a little longer,” he continued. “Will you be alright?”

Amy shrugged. “I guess,” she mumbled. “I can’t really ask you to hang around here all day. The best thing is to just continue with my research.”

Sergeant Cooper smirked slightly. “That’s my girl,” he said softly, but loud enough for Bert to hear.

Amy looked down bashfully. Why did it feel good to hear him say such a thing?

“Call me if anything comes up, okay?” Sergeant Cooper said, lifting her chin with his free hand. His eyes implored her. She guessed he was being genuine now.

“I will,” Amy promised softly.

“Good,” he murmured, and she was unprepared for the way he pulled her face closer and closed his mouth over hers.

Amy’s eyes fluttered shut, and her lips pressed against his automatically. A tingle moved over her spine. She inhaled sharply though her nose as his lips moved over hers a little too long for it to be quick kiss goodbye.

Sergeant Cooper pulled back, and Amy worried he noticed the way her pupils dilated from just this brief physical contact.

“I’ll text you,” he said firmly, and his lips pressed against hers once more. “Bye, babe.”

Bert stepped aside quickly when he powerwalked out of the door. The door was left open, and Amy looked at the empty frame. She was completely messed up from this exchange.

_Shit._ Her thoughts were a mess. She had no time to think however, with Bert still there.

“So…” he started, “this is awkward.”

“Why?” Amy asked, hating to be left alone with a suspect. Or had Sergeant Cooper determined Bert was harmless, since he was too afraid to ask her out point blank?

At least Wolowitz had installed those microphones along with the cameras. Amy could only assume someone was listening to them somewhere. Perhaps it was a tactic, to leave her alone with him? Perhaps he would start talking himself?

Her brain overflowed with questions and she felt ticked off for being left out of the tactics the officers had obviously discussed beforehand.

“Well,” Bert’s monotone deep voice startled her out of her thoughts, “I was kind of working up to asking you out. Seeing you with that man put a stop to that.”

“You were?” Amy tried to act surprised.

“Yeah,” Bert said. “I don’t go bringing rocks to just everyone, you know.”

It was awkward. Even more so because he was telling it exactly like it was.

“Oh,” Amy said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that was what you were doing. If I’d known of your intentions, I would have told you about Sheldon months ago.”

“You never mentioned anyone, you know,” Bert said, as if he was trying to justify his earlier behaviour.

Amy shrugged. They had practiced this, the way she should respond to these questions.

“I didn’t?” she asked, “Well, you know, I don’t like to talk much about my private life here at work. I come here for my research and experiments. There’s no reason for me to talk about who I may or may not share a bed with.”

“Right,” Bert nodded slowly. “Well, he’s a lucky man. Sheldon, you say?”

“Yes, Sheldon,” Amy confirmed. “And I’ll let him know, haha,” she added, feeling too awkward about all of this.

“Any idea who would have broken into your lab? What did they take?” Bert changed the subject. Amy stilled – she had no idea what she could say to others about the investigation.

“I don’t know who, and my stuff is all still here,” she said truthfully. “But they did take Ricky. I’ve been so upset all weekend. I almost didn’t want to go in today, but Sheldon made me see reason. I’m not going to be scared into staying away from work just because some psycho took my favourite monkey.”

“Wow,” Bert said, as impressed as he could look with his slow movements. “I guess that’s one way to look at it. Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”

“I will, thanks Bert,” Amy said.

He gave her another awkward look, and left the laboratory. Amy exhaled slowly. This was going to be much tougher than she had anticipated, putting up an act all the time.

“I am _so_ not going to be able to keep this up,” she muttered under her breath.

She sighed again, and decided to just get on with her day then. She walked over to the sink to wash up, when her phone chimed with an incoming text message.

Amy walked back over to her phone and unlocked her screen. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest.

_From: Sheldon  
You WILL be able to keep this up. You’re doing great so far. _

They had exchanged numbers the night before, and she had just saved him under his first name in case someone would look in her phone. She hadn’t expected him to actually text her though.

Amy also wondered how incredibly sensitive these microphones were.

Her phone buzzed again.

_From: Sheldon  
I’ll see you this afternoon; det. H. & W. will take you to the station. Take care today XX_

Amy stared at her phone. If they were supposed to stay in character all the time, then why did it seem like she was texting with a strange mix between Sheldon Tucker and Sergeant Cooper?

**To be continued**


	8. The Listening Device

**Chapter 7**

**The Listening Device**

Amy tapped the call icon next to Sheldon’s name on her phone. Normally she would have been reluctant to call him, but he seemed to be listening along to her already.

“Miss me already, babe?” he answered. She could hear some noises in the background. Was he still around the university? Or was he back at the precinct?

Amy’s stomach constricted, her lips still tingled slightly from his kisses. Was she still supposed to be staying in character now as well? She was alone. Well, as alone as she could be with people listening along to every word she said.

As long as Bert wasn’t one of them.

“Hey,” she said hesitantly. Amy wasn’t sure how to continue now. But Sergeant Cooper did.

“What is it?” he asked, not in the sleazy tone he had used before, but serious.

She wondered if Wolowitz’ wife had examined the rocks yet. How could she ask him about that without stating it outright?

“It was a shame you had to leave so early,” she said, adopting a sort of flirty tone of voice.

“Oh?”

“Yes, you know that colleague of mine who came in around the time you left?” Amy felt more than a little weird, acting for an invisible audience. Sergeant Cooper made a humming noise.

“Well, it’s a good thing you were here, you saved me the trouble of turning him down,” Amy chuckled.

“I knew there was something suspicious about him,” Sergeant Cooper said.

Amy inhaled sharply. _Had something come out of the examination?_

Either Sergeant Cooper knew how to read her, or he was watching her face on the feed of the camera’s, because he chuckled. “I can’t really blame the guy for coming after you,” he said. “But that’s _all_ that is suspicious about him. You’re free to talk.”

Amy exhaled in relief. “Don’t scare me like that!” she said angrily.

Sergeant Cooper laughed some more in the other end of the ear piece.

“I’m sorry, but you’re really learning not to break character. I was only encouraging that,” he said, sounding not sorry at all. “But Bernadette – Wolowitz’ wife – texted that the rocks are just that; rocks and minerals. There aren’t any listening devices or trackers inside them.”

Amy harrumphed.

“Well, you could have let me know that before you left me alone with a suspect,” she muttered, unamused.

“For now, everyone is still a suspect, Doctor Fowler,” he said – and Amy was taken aback by his way of addressing her as well as going back to full Sergeant-Cooper-mode.

“Right,” she said. “How many people are listening to me working here in the lab?”

She felt like a contestant on a TV show like _Big Brother_ , where her every move was filmed and analysed, but without the possibility to win a bag of money at the end.

“Not a lot, it’s just me and Howard now,” Sergeant Cooper said. “You did really well with Doctor Kibbler just now.”

“You did,” she heard Wolowitz pipe up a little further away. _Oh God, had he been listening at her lame flirting with Sergeant- - Sheldon?_

“Thanks,” Amy murmured.

“We’re expecting more people to come in and check in on you,” Sergeant Cooper said. “This way, we can spot suspicious behaviour fast, when we see how they interact with you alone. Whenever anyone asks what you know, just say what you did to Doctor Kibbler. Be sure to mention me.”

He sounded almost possessive as he made the last statement.

“Okay,” Amy nodded. She could do this. Her eyes flickered over to Ricky’s empty cage. She swallowed against the lump in her throat, but her eyes filled with tears. Her weekend had been very hectic, with the interrogation, the search in her house, the shooting and the physical training. She barely had any time to think about Ricky.

The thought that he might be dead somewhere – or perhaps even worse; alone and hungry and panicking – caused her blood to run cold.

“I should get to work,” her voice wavered. She blinked rapidly looking up at the ceiling in the hopes she wouldn’t start crying; Sergeant Cooper and Wolowitz were watching her.

“We’ll find whoever did this,” Sergeant Cooper said – his voice low and strangely soothing. “Try to just focus on your work today, alright? We’ll debrief this afternoon.”

“Alright,” Amy mumbled. She sniffed. “Bye.”

“Bye,” Sergeant Cooper echoed.

And while the terms of endearment he had been throwing around earlier had been too much, she would have liked one now.

* * *

Sergeant Cooper had been right. All morning people came in her lab, all of them looking around like she was some sort of circus act to gawk at. They all asked questions she couldn’t answer – making suggestions that she must have angered someone somehow. It bothered Amy greatly, because every time someone mentioned Ricky, she choked up again.

She had just gotten rid of Doctor Gunderson and his colleague, when her office phone rang.

“Hello?” she asked.

“Hi, this is Samantha from President Siebert’s office,” the bored voice of the 50-year old secretary to the university’s president sounded through the earpiece.

“Oh, hello,” Amy said. She hardly ever spoke to the president of the university.

“The president would like to meet with you at your earliest convenience,” Samantha droned on.

“He does?” Amy questioned, surprised. _Perhaps he had heard about the break-in,_ that seemed the most logical explanation.

Her phone buzzed with an incoming text message. Amy unlocked her screen.

_From: Sheldon  
Say you can meet in half an hour or later _

Amy blinked.

“According to your schedule you don’t have any appointments, so I’ll tell the president you’re on your way,” Samantha continued.

“Wait!” Amy interjected. “Uhm… actually, I’m right in the middle of examining some cultures, if I could finish that first. Otherwise a whole morning of work will be wasted. I could meet him in like half an hour?”

“You’re lucky the president of the university is very lenient,” Samantha said, sounding appalled that Amy even dared to suggest a different time for their appointment. “I’ll schedule you in at 11:45.”

“Alright, thanks,” Amy said.

Her phone buzzed again, but this was an incoming call. It was a blocked number.

“Hello?” Amy asked.

“Hey, it’s Howard,” Wolowitz said. “Sheldon is on his way with a wire and a cup coffee from the café across the street.”

“Why?” Amy didn’t understand this.

“We haven’t bugged the president’s office yet, so we want to listen in on the conversation there,” Howard explained. “And the coffee is a ruse. You know, the doting boyfriend bringing his girlfriend a cup of coffee to cheer her up after the awful weekend she had?”

Amy didn’t know why that made her blush.

“Oh,” she mumbled. “Alright. Thanks for the head’s up.”

Sergeant Cooper knocked on her office about ten minutes later, before she heard the beeps of him entering the passcode. He walked in with a to go-cup from the cafeteria across the street.

“How’s my girl?” he asked, walked towards her determinedly. Amy opened her mouth to retort – why hadn’t he closed the door? Now they had to keep their act up – but was rendered speechless when he bent down and kissed her cheek.

“Hey,” she said. Her cheek felt like it was on fire. “I’m doing alright, I guess. It’s a weird morning. Lots of people came by.”

“I figured you could use a little pick-me-up,” Sheldon winked at her. “Here, I got you a mocha.”

Amy loved those. _How did he know?_

She gave him a smile. “Thank you,” she said. She knew he was there on business, but she really did like him getting her a hot beverage.

“Drink it while it’s still warm,” Sheldon ordered, and he walked over to the door of her lab. He closed it firmly. He turned the lock.

“That should establish my involvement in your life for the people lurking in the hall,” he muttered darkly as he turned towards her.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” he stated. He lifted his wrist to his mouth. “Wolowitz, cut the feed.”

He had to have a microphone in his watch, Amy realised. Sergeant Cooper’s eyes moved to one of her cabinets, where one of the camera’s must have been hidden because he nodded. He turned to Amy and his eyes widened impatiently when he saw her sitting there staring at him.

“Take off your blouse.”

Amy’s mouth dropped open. “What?” she said, breathless.

“Wolowitz called you to inform you of my arrival, did he not?” he snapped. “We have no surveillance equipment in the president’s office, I need to wire you.”

As he spoke, he pulled out a set of cables from the inside pocket of his jacket. Amy was frozen still. Sergeant Cooper looked up as he unrolled the cables.

“Today, Doctor Fowler,” he said firmly.

Amy’s hands shook and her head felt filled with wool. She unbuttoned her cardigan and took it off quickly. Her blouse followed.

Sergeant Cooper looked up from his work on the wires. “How many layers are you wearing? It’s not even that cold here,” he said. “The top too,” he indicated to the camisole she wore over her bra.

“Just don’t go commenting on my leopard-print underwear again,” Amy threatened softly, because her brain couldn’t deal with the fact that she was undressing for him. In her _laboratory._

She stilled. She wasn’t just undressing for him, but for the entire precinct. Or at least for Wolowitz.

“Where are those cameras?” Amy asked, her hands on the bottom of her top.

Sergeant Cooper looked up. “They’re turned off, I just told Wolowitz to cut the feed,” he said as if he was stating the obvious. “My officers can look at women in underwear in their own time, not while I’m there to oversee them.”

Heat pooled in her lower belly. Ignoring that, Amy quickly took off her top. A bra was kind of like being in a bikini, and she wouldn’t be this awkward if she would run into someone at the beach, would she?

But this was Sergeant Cooper or Sheldon Tucker or whoever he was at the moment. His gaze alone was enough to arouse her (she could admit it now, at least) and standing in front of him in just her bra and skirt was a lot to think about.

There was no time to think however, because Sergeant Cooper was already in front of her with his collection of wires and other devices she had never seen before in her life. He seemed to be in a rush to get this through.

“Turn around,” he ordered. Amy looked at his face, she wanted to see if he was as flustered as she was with all this, but he was busying himself with the wires.

“I’m attaching the transmitter to your back,” he said, and he hung the wire over her shoulder. Amy grabbed the end of it, there was an earpiece there.

“Should I put this in my ear?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Sergeant Cooper mumbled. She heard a sort of ripping sound, and felt his fingers on the space between her shoulder blades. He seemed to be taping the wire to her back.

“If you wear your hair down like you just had and be sure to cover your ears, no one will see this,” he said.

His fingers moved over her spine, and he attached the wire under her bra strap with another piece of tape. His hand felt warm there – but that may be the air-con in her lab – and he seemed to be really gentle with her. Or maybe he was just being careful with the equipment. His other hand pulled on her shoulder, turning her around.

It had been years since someone’s hands had been this close to her breasts, and Sergeant Cooper appeared to touch her as little as possible. He grabbed another piece of tape and pulled the wire around her side, taping it to the skin under the little bow between her bra-cups.

He looked up at her, and Amy’s breath halted. She was blushing fully now, and even Sergeant Cooper seemed a little hot under the collar. Amy bit her lip. Her mouth felt dry and her palms felt rather clammy.

Sergeant Cooper held her gaze a beat longer, before he turned back to the table next to him. He cleared his throat.

“This is the actual microphone,” he said, holding it up for her to see. “You don’t have to speak directly in it, it’s strong enough to catch any sound from a 10 feet radius.”

He attached the microphone to the end of the wire, and his knuckles grazed the skin between her breasts as he did so.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. He was flushed.

“’s Okay,” Amy whispered. Her legs were about to give out. He was so _close_ and that weird scent of talcum powder was doing things to her.

He grabbed another piece of tape and attached the wire on the skin between her breasts. He had to be able to feel her heart hammer under his fingertips. Before she could really start to enjoy his touch, he had pulled his hand away.

“Now, put the ear piece in,” he said. Amy fumbled with the other end of the wire; it went over the shell of her ear and she pushed the tiny piece in her ear.

“Testing,” Sergeant Cooper said into his wrist, and she heard it in her ear as well as in front of her.

_“Loud and clear at my side, Doctor Fowler please come in.”_

Amy jumped up when she heard Wolowitz’ voice in her ear. “Uhm,” she said, almost bending her head to speak directly into the microphone but stopping herself just in time. “Testing one, two, three.”

_“Seems to be working,”_ Wolowitz said in her ear. _“With you, Sarge?”_

“I copy,” Sergeant Cooper said, but not into his wrist. Amy guessed the microphone on her chest picked up his voice, because Wolowitz replied within seconds.

_“Good. We’re recording here as well. Can I turn the feed back on?”_

“In a minute,” Amy said quickly. Sergeant Cooper averted his gaze when she dressed herself, and she felt strangely rejected.

“Are you sure no one will see the wire?” she asked, when she buttoned the final button of her cardigan.

“No one looks for them,” Sergeant Cooper answered. “You didn’t see mine, did you?”

Amy’s eyes moved to his right ear, where a clear string was barely visible from the inside of his ear to the top of his ear shell. There was no wire going into his shirt, however.

“This is just the receiver, I have a transmitter in my watch,” he said, answering her unasked question.

“Right,” Amy said. “I should go to President Siebert’s office, I think.”

Sergeant Cooper nodded. His hand reached out for her face, and he arranged her hair over her ear. A tingle moved over Amy’s spine.

“There,” he said. “Come on, I’ll walk you out. And don’t forget that mocha.”

* * *

Sergeant Cooper – _Sheldon –_ took hold of her left hand as they walked across campus to President Siebert’s office. In her right she held the to-go cup with the now lukewarm beverage. Amy didn’t know if it was her imagination, but people seemed to be watching her. Watching them.

“Do you have any idea what the president would want to discuss with you?” he asked as they neared his building.

“I guess the same as everyone else; questions about the break-in, probably,” Amy said. Sheldon just hummed.

“Well, this is it,” Amy said, turning towards Sheldon. The president’s office looked out over campus; he was probably able to see him.

“Siebert’s looking at us,” Sheldon said in a tone that mimicked a regular conversation.

“He is?” Amy asked. _What did that mean? Were they supposed to kiss now?_

“Caucasian male, short-buzz cut, big glasses? Yes, he is,” Sheldon muttered, his eyes never leaving her face.

“How can you tell?” Amy asked.

“I have excellent peripheral vision,” Sheldon quipped.

“Oh, okay,” Amy said awkwardly. “Well, I guess I’ll see you this afternoon then?”

“Lean into me,” Sheldon murmured.

Amy looked at him questioningly, but leaned forward nonetheless. Sheldon bent down as he pulled on her hand at the same time and Amy gasped in shock when his mouth crashed against hers.

The earlier tingles from when he had attached the wire returned full-force. Due to her surprised outburst, her lips had parted slightly. Sheldon’s lips moved against hers almost hungrily, and Amy felt the unmistakeable brush of his tongue against her parted lips.

She moaned softly.

As fast as he had started it, he ended it. Amy blinked rapidly as she tried to calm down her raging heart. She swallowed against the sudden dryness in her throat. Sheldon gazed at her.

“I’ll see you this afternoon, darlin’,” he said, and his hand repositioned her hair over her ear once more.

“I’ll be listening the whole time. Now go.”

Amy’s legs trembled as she walked up the steps leading to the president’s office.

* * *

“So, Doctor Fowler, that must have been quite the weekend you’ve had,” President Siebert said, after Amy had taken a seat on the chair in front of his desk.

“Yes, it has, sir,” Amy said. She really didn’t know what else to say.

“I must say, I’ve been the president of this university for almost a decade now, and the only time the police were involved was when the fraternities’ initiations went a little overboard,” he chuckled, as if it was funny that some of the hazing students had ended up in hospital. “Do you have any idea who’s behind this attack on your person?”

Amy blinked at him. “No, I don’t.”

“Well, you see, Doctor Fowler… I don’t like it when there are detectives running around posing questions to my personnel. It makes them feel unsafe.”

“Well, I don’t know what you want talk to me about,” Amy said, feeling a little angry at his line of questioning. “I can’t stop the police from doing their job. And frankly, I don’t feel all too safe either.”

“That’s what I expected,” Siebert said, sounding pleased with Amy’s response.

“Sir?” Amy asked. Because feeling unsafe was not something to be happy about.

“I’ve come up with a solution, to create a sense of calm around the university,” he said, sounding smug. “You have no idea how many people have been in my office today, demanding extra surveillance and an increase in security. It’s been a nuisance.”

_“This guy needs his priorities sorted out,”_ Howard mumbled in her ear. Amy bit her lip to keep from grinning.

“That must have been tedious, I imagine,” Amy said. “Meanwhile, I have spent my weekend at the police station and worried about one of my monkeys.” 

“Yes, that’s why I think my solution will work in both our interests,” Siebert said, cutting her off.

“I can imagine you may want some time off, to rest a little after the break-in. And at the same time, I want my personnel to continue working as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened and there is nothing to be worried about,” he said. Amy didn’t like his implications.

“But there _is_ something to worry about,” Amy said.

“Yes, for you,” Siebert said. “I don’t know what kind of grudges people have against you, Doctor Fowler. And frankly, I don’t want to know. But it’s causing a disturbance in the workday of many and I don’t want that. What I want, is for my university to stay out of the local headlines and for the factory to keep running.”

Amy stared at him. Was he firing her?

“What are you suggesting, Sir?”

“There’s a neuroscience conference at Berkeley, starting this Wednesday. I’d like you to go, rest a little, go to some lectures, out to dinner and let the detectives take care of things around here,” he said.

“In fact, I’m ordering you to go. I’ll ask Samantha to upgrade your hotel room, so you can bring a guest. That young man you were kissing just now, for instance.”

Amy was silent for too long. Her thoughts were going a mile a minute. Siebert wanted her out of the way for a few days – all because he was afraid the university’s reputation would be tarnished. And while she liked a conference, going to one with pretend-boyfriend Sheldon as a plus one, seemed like a bad idea.

She was about to decline, when Sergeant Cooper’s voice whispered in her earpiece.

_“Accept his offer. This is highly suspicious. I think we have a new prime suspect.”_

**To be continued**


	9. The Train Ride

**Chapter 8**

**The Train Ride**

“These are the best seats; on the right side of the tracks for the best views, and not above the wheelbase,” Sergeant Cooper said, and he lifted their bags up into the overhead compartments.

“Explain to me again why we’re taking the train instead of just flying to San Francisco?” Amy grumbled. The prospect of sharing a hotel room with him was bad enough, and she had purposely spent the last hours not thinking too much about this eleven-hour train ride.

“Your boss is paying for our transport,” he said, as if she was deliberately being ignorant. “I couldn’t have him booking a plane ticket without giving away my real name. So, the train it is.”

His eyes sparkled when he said it.

“The train is a far more superior mode of transport anyway,” he continued. “This is the Coast Starlight, one of the great American trains operating on one of the classic American routes. This is an experience one must do once in their lives.”

Amy stared at him. “What?” she asked, bewildered. “Are you into trains?”

Sergeant Cooper blushed a little, but seemed unperturbed overall. “I’ll have you know that the train is a most fascinating mode of transportation, with classic rail routes such as the Orient Express, the Ranakpur Express in India, the –“

“Are you going to do this the entire ride to San Francisco?” Amy interrupted him.

He closed his mouth. “Never mind.”

Amy looked at him in fascination. He was wearing another coloured t-shirt today, orange with a sort of man wielding a trident on it. It seemed like a super hero of sorts. She wondered if he had a separate wardrobe for his undercover character of Sheldon Tucker, or if this was his genuine wardrobe.

Both options would be strange.

And now he was one of those crazy people who seemed obsessed with trains? She wondered what else she would be finding out about him over the course of this trip. Ever since their talk with Gablehauser on Sunday, she had wondered how much of his undercover persona was made up, and how much was actually based on his life.

Perhaps more was based on his life than she had originally thought. No lie was more believable than the truth after all, and it would be easier to stick to his real life as much as possible.

Amy grabbed her laptop, and started to look into the programme of the conference. Because of them taking the train, she hadn’t had much time to prepare. After her meeting with President Siebert, she had to finish her lab work for the day quickly and head on home to pack for the trip. Their train was leaving the next day, and since the commute would be eleven hours, they had to leave a day earlier than the conference too.

Amy was lucky her neighbour was available to feed Garfield while she was away. She wouldn’t have known what to do if she hadn’t been able to.

The first couple of hours passed without the two of them speaking much. Sergeant Cooper was looking out the window for most of it, and the rest of the time he was reading through a few folders he had brought with him.

“What are you reading?” Amy asked, too curious for her own good.

“Caltech employee information on the people in your building,” he mumbled.

Amy stared at him. “How did you get that?”

“Wolowitz hacked into your HR systems,” he said, his eyes not leaving the page he was reading. “All your security is lacking. I could have probably done this hacking job as well.”

“Is that even legal?” Amy asked. Didn’t he need a warrant for this kind of stuff?

“No, it’s not,” he said. “I’m only looking for patterns now; I need to know when everyone started working in this building, what they did before this, if they worked with monkeys before this, what they are working on now, that sort of thing.”

Amy gazed at him.

“Shouldn’t you be taking notes?” she asked. It seemed humanly impossible to be analysing all that information without writing any of it down. Was he cross referencing in his head?

“No, I don’t need to,” he mumbled, his eyes flitting over the pages in front of him.

“There is some interesting conclusions to be drawn based on the employee records alone,” Sergeant Cooper mumbled.

“There are two people who work together in the medical research department now, who both worked at the same department at UCLA years ago, their employer before that was the same as well. Can’t be a coincidence. They’re either fucking behind their spouses’ backs – they are both married and not to each other – or they just like each other and help each other to new jobs.”

“Oh my God, that is juicy!” Amy’s eyes bugged out. She wasn’t really friends with anyone at the university – except Doctor Koothrappali – so she had no clue who this could be.

“Who are they?” she asked.

Sergeant Cooper looked up at her. “You know I can’t disclose that kind of information in an ongoing investigation, Doctor Fowler,” he said sternly.

“I’m totally a part of the investigation now, _officer,_ ” she rebutted. “But all right.”

She huffed and crossed her arms. First he admitted to illegally acquiring documents, and now he was unwilling to share them with her? Talk about double standards.

He continued his reading, and Amy couldn’t help but wonder just how he was able to connect all these snippets of information in his mind. Not only did he have an eidetic memory, his analytical abilities were beyond impressive. She felt the heat in her lower belly again that she had felt when they were doing the physical combat, or when he had kissed her.

Amy hoped she didn’t blush too much. She moved her eyes back to her laptop and continued to read up on the key-note speaker she’d be seeing the next day.

* * *

Amy fell asleep after a while, the clickety-clack of the wheels of the rails lulling her into a slumber. The pain in her neck combined with a sudden changing of the rails woke her up.

“That can’t be good for your neck,” Sergeant Cooper mumbled. _Had he been watching her sleep?_

“Yeah,” Amy’s voice croaked. She felt awkward. Exposed.

They would be sharing a hotel room for the next three nights, so she guessed she should be getting used to him watching her. Asleep or awake.

“I’m getting a cup of tea from the Pacific Parlour Car. Do you want anything?” Sergeant Cooper asked, getting up from his seat.

“A cup of tea sounds lovely,” Amy answered, and she grabbed her purse to give him some money.

“No, it’s okay. I’m on the job, I got money for expenses like this,” he stopped her. Amy watched him go. Him paying for her drinks felt more like a date with her (pretend?) boyfriend somehow.

* * *

She had taken out a pen and paper, and was drawing a mind map while Sergeant Cooper was getting their drinks. It seemed strange to her still that someone would be after her. Even stranger was the fact that she didn’t even feel unsafe or worried. Maybe that was because of the precautions the people from the precinct had taken.

But who would be after her? And why take Ricky?

She refused to start crying again thinking about the possibility that Ricky may have died a gruesome death.

She started listing all the people she had interacted with, making notes of what had happened. She knew she could disregard Bert for now – or at least, disregard the rocks as listening devices. She listed him anyway.

She didn’t know how long she had been busy working on her mind map when Sergeant Cooper came back. He placed a steaming cup of tea in front of her. “I brought you Earl Grey and Lemon Zinger,” he said, placing two tea bags next to the cup.

“Thanks,” Amy said.

“What are you working on?” he asked, sitting in front of her again.

“Well,” Amy blushed. It seemed kind of silly now, that she was playing detective while out with an _actual_ detective. “I was just trying to see if I missed something. I still don’t have a clue who could be after me.”

“Let me see,” Sergeant Cooper said. His eyes moved over the map.

“You haven’t spoken to Doctor Koothrappali yet, have you?” he asked.

Amy shook her head. “No, usually we would have lunch either today or Thursday. Should I e-mail him and tell him I’m out of town?” she asked.

“No,” Sergeant Cooper said. “Call him instead. I’d like to know how he talks to you.”

“ _How_ he talks to me? What do you mean?” Amy asked.

“If he tries to flirt with you, or is just being nice. If he’s concerned for your well-being, that sort of thing,” Sergeant Cooper waved with his hand.

Amy wound up with Sergeant Cooper sitting next to her, her headphones plugged into her phone. She had the ear piece with the microphone in her right ear, and Sergeant Cooper had the left ear piece – after thoroughly disinfecting it – in his left.

It was strangely intimate.

The line rang. “Hello?” the unmistakeable Indian accent of Doctor Koothrappali sounded through the ear piece.

“Hi Rajesh,” Amy said. “It’s Amy.”

“Oh my God, Amy!” he exclaimed. “I only heard about what happened this morning. I came over to your lab, but you weren’t there. Are you okay?”

“I’m alright,” Amy said. “I wanted to let you know I won’t be able to make it to lunch today or Thursday. I’m not at work.”

“No, that’s okay. You take your time,” he said, elongating his vowels.

“Thank you, Rajesh,” Amy said softly. She glanced at the sergeant. He indicated for her to keep the conversation going.

“Uhm… I hope you weren’t looking forward to lunch with me too much,” Amy said. “I knew you wanted to discuss Notting Hill, and because of everything that happened this weekend I haven’t even had time to watch it again.”

“No, no, that’s okay,” he said. “You take your time. Are you having a few days off? Did you get your security updated at home at least?”

Amy glanced at the sergeant. His brow was furrowed.

“I’m not at home actually, I’m going to a conference with my boyfriend,” she said. She didn’t know what to say. Was it suspicious that Rajesh was asking about the security at her apartment? Or was it just concern from his part?

He was silent for a beat.

“Whaaaaaatt!” he exclaimed, sounding like a fangirl. “You didn’t tell me you have a boyfriend!”

Amy blushed as if he was able to see her. Sergeant Cooper shifted in his seat next to her.

“Well, there’s no need to sound so surprised… I’m quite a catch, you know,” she mumbled, hardly believing herself.

“Of course!” Rajesh was quick to answer, “I just… You never told me you were seeing someone. What’s his name? How did you meet?”

He didn’t sound at all like someone who was interest in _her_. Just _her love life._

Amy laughed softly. “I guess it never came up. We’ve been going out for a few months now. His name is Sheldon,” she said softly. She glanced at her fake boyfriend next to her. He was looking back at her, his eyes ablaze.

“We met online actually, it’s a funny story. I’ll tell you about it when I’m back from San Francisco.”

“Of course,” Rajesh said. “I hope the police finds whoever did this. I heard people talk about it by the water fountain. Apparently they took your monkey?”

“Yeah,” Amy mumbled, a sudden lump in her throat. She coughed. “Anyway… I hope you’ll find someone to have lunch with then today.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Rajesh sounded almost smug. “I have the girls lined up, you know me.”

“You do?” Amy asked, surprised.

“Okay, not _girls,_ but I do have someone who wants to have lunch with me,” he said.

“Oh? Do tell!” Amy was happy for him. Rajesh seemed like a nice guy, too nice sometimes. She feared he was one of those men who was doomed to remain single while his friends all married off.

“We went out a couple of years ago, and she has recently been asking me out again,” he said. “Emily’s pretty cool, I’ll let you know how it goes. I should leave you to it with your boyfriend, I think.”

“Yes, well have fun at lunch,” Amy said. “Bye.”

She hung up and looked at Sergeant Cooper. He seemed to be deep in thought.

“Well?” she asked.

He just shook his head, and moved back to his earlier seat. He spent the next hours looking through more files, and Amy wondered if she had missed some sort of obvious clue.

* * *

Amy worked on her mind map a little more, and spent the rest of her time either napping or reading. She did watch Notting Hill on Netflix as well, so at least she would be able to discuss the movie with Rajesh the following week. Sergeant Cooper seemed preoccupied with either his files or his mind.

They had a sort of awkward lunch and a mostly quiet dinner, and Amy wondered again how they were supposed to go on pretending to be a couple. There was no telling who they would run into at the conference, so Gablehauser had ordered her to keep their act up at all times.

The both of them had failed at keeping their act up during the train ride, she mused.

It was incredibly late when they arrived at the train station, and Amy had been nodding off more and more on the train.

She was shamelessly yawning as Sergeant Cooper flagged down a cap outside the train station. Amy hoped they could maybe ask for a different room at the front desk. While President Siebert hadn’t specified what kind of upgrade he had gotten her, she was pretty sure it didn’t involve a room with two _separate_ beds.

“Sheldon?” she asked softly once they were in the cab. It was strange, calling him by his first name. He turned to her.

“I ehm… I was thinking,” she said, tripping over her words. “Maybe we could ask the front desk for a different room? Or an extra room maybe?”

His eyes widened. “We could, but we’re not going to,” he said firmly.

“Why not?” Amy asked. Did he _want_ to share a bed with her? Her stomach constricted. She wouldn’t survive it. When he had stood against her during their shooting practice, her heart rate had quickened. And when he had hung over her later, arousal had burned in her lower belly.

How would she survive a couple nights next to him?

Sergeant Cooper sighed deeply, exasperatedly. “Doctor Fowler,” he said, turning to her. “After a failed attack on your life, your employer has ordered you to stay away from the ongoing investigation in your laboratory. He has offered to pay for a trip, as well as the place you’ll be staying. That way, you won’t be able to interfere with the investigation… But he will know exactly where you will be; either at Berkeley or at the Best Western closest to it.”

Amy hadn’t looked at it like this. Sergeant Cooper continued after letting it sink in.

“The president of a high profile university will have some sort of esteem in other cities as well, or at least some connections in high places,” he said. “I see no reason to believe the room he has booked for you isn’t bugged.”

“What?” Amy asked, her stomach dropping.

“Think about it, Doctor Fowler. If he wants to keep tabs on you, this is the ultimate way to do it.”

He made a valid point.

“So, we’ll be sharing the room then,” Amy said, dread filling her.

“We will,” he said firmly. “And we must keep our guard up and not break character at all while at the hotel.”

Amy swallowed thickly. “Right,” she said. “Here I was hoping to be able to rest a little at the hotel, but instead I’ll be playing a part the whole time.”

“You’ll be able to be yourself at both the conference and at the hotel,” Sergeant Cooper said. “You’ll just have to be a bit more sweet on me and kiss me goodnight, that’s all.”

He was smirking slightly as he said it. Amy blushed.

She would be kissing him goodnight in _a bed_.

It was a good thing she had taken these naps, because there was no way in hell she would be able to fall asleep next to him.

**To be continued**


	10. The Hotel Room

**Chapter 9**

**The Hotel Room**

“Checking in for Fowler,” Amy said, handing her driver’s license to the woman behind the counter.

“Ah, yes, the late check-in,” the woman said, typing some things into the computer. “I see you’ve been upgraded to a bigger room, here are your keys.”

Amy accepted the credit card from her grasp – it always irritated her that they didn’t have regular keys in hotels. As if she had room for another card in her wallet.

“May I ask when the original reservation was made?” Sergeant Cooper piped up, pocketing his own key.

“Sure,” the woman looked uninterested. “Uhm… let me see, Friday morning around 10 AM.”

Amy blinked. It didn’t add up. Hadn’t President Siebert said that he had been bothered by people coming into his office on Monday? Why would he have made the reservation days earlier? On the day of the attack no less?

_Did he know he was going to fail?_

“In the name of Fowler as well?” Sergeant Cooper asked, obviously thinking the same thing.

“The reservation is made in the name of Caltech University,” the receptionist said. “You _are_ here for the conference at Berkeley, are you not?”

“We are,” Amy nodded quickly, it was becoming suspicious, their behaviour. “I’m just really glad my boss gave me this upgrade, now I got to bring my boyfriend.”

She gave the sergeant some sort of lovesick look, while she took hold of his hand and swung their hands around. He gave her a seductive grin in return.

“Alright,” the receptionist looked more than a little uncomfortable. “Well, enjoy your stay. Breakfast is served between 6:30 and 9:00.”

Sergeant Cooper took their bags and walked to the elevators. He held his phone to his ear and began to speak rapidly as soon as it was answered. 

“Hofstadter, bring President Siebert in for questioning tomorrow at the earliest. Keep him all day if you have to, I’ll send you the information needed by e-mail in a few minutes. I strongly assume the room we’re staying in is rigged with microphones. He wouldn’t have been able to put up cameras. Listening to audio while he goes about his day would be a possibility, he won’t have the time or the skills to have a video set-up. Doctor Fowler and I will remain in character while in the room, to be sure. I will inform you all when we leave and when we get back to the hotel.”

He was silent for a minute as Detective Hofstadter spoke to him. His face flushed for some reason.

“You’re talking to your superior officer, Hofstadter,” he snapped. “I refuse to reply to these insinuations. Watch your inbox for incoming instructions.”

He hung up, and looked incredibly flustered.

“Are you all right?” Amy asked.

“Fine,” he huffed. The elevator arrived, and he mentioned for her to go first.

“What insinuations?” she asked.

Sergeant Cooper coughed awkwardly. “That’s not important,” he said dismissively. “Now, are you ready to ‘ _play the part’_ as you so eloquently put it earlier?”

Amy nodded. “I think so, yes.”

“Alright,” Sergeant Cooper nodded. “Now, if you feel the need to speak to me – not Sheldon Tucker, but _me_ – you can let me know by giving me a signal. I usually use the Vulcan salute. It’s a visual only, so any microphones won’t pick it up.”

“The Vulcan salute?” Amy repeated.

Sergeant Cooper held up his right hand, his fingers spread open in the middle, forming a ‘V’.

“Star Trek… Really, Sergeant Cooper?” Amy asked.

She didn’t understand this man. He had come off as misogynistic and harsh when she first met him, but he appeared to be a huge geek with his love for trains and cheap science fiction.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened at their floor. “Come on, love,” he said, walking ahead of her. Amy’s heart skipped a beat. Maybe she could ask him to tone it down with the terms of endearment? Or at least stick to one and not call her a variety of sweet words?

It was messing with her head.

He had opened the door already. There was no time to break character now.

“Can we go on trips paid by your boss more often? This is nice,” he said. Amy followed him into the room. It _was_ nice; there were some flowers – real ones – in a vase on a dresser. An extra chair stood in a corner and there was even a desk of sorts. Her eyes moved to the open door of the bathroom; a huge tub and a shower next to it were visible through the slid in the door.

When she had looked at everything else, her eyes moved to the bed in the middle of the room.

It looked daunting. She guessed it was big enough, but the fact that she would be sleeping next to Sergeant Cooper in there made her more than just a little nervous.

“Why don’t you go take a shower first, honey?” Sergeant Cooper said. “I’ll go see if the WiFi here is better to send out those e-mails to Texas.”

He gave her a look. _I have to e-mail Detective Hofstadter_ , it seemed to say.

“Yeah, alright,” Amy said. Nodding at him as well.

“If I’m done fast enough, I’ll join you,” he added, winking at her.

“I’ll leave the door unlocked then,” Amy said softly. Sergeant Cooper grinned at her. _‘Good job,’_ he mouthed.

Amy nodded at him, and quickly grabbed her bag. Where were her pyjamas? She had been sure to pack something appropriate; a long night gown, with a high collar and long sleeves. She would be covered even more than she was with the outfit she was wearing now. She took off her shoes and made her way to the bathroom.

There wasn’t even a lock on the door to leave unlocked.

Amy felt a sort of nervousness in her stomach. There was no way he would be coming in while she was in the shower; he was a southern gentleman after all. She undressed quickly and pulled her hair up before she got in the shower.

She focussed on the relaxation of her muscles, and the sweet scent of the shower gel the hotel provided. The water pressure was amazing and she felt the knots in her back disappear. If this were a real, unsuspicious trip, she would have sent President Siebert a thank you-note.

Amy didn’t know how long she stood under the stream of water, but after a while she figured Sergeant Cooper might want to shower before bed as well. It was already late.

She had dried herself off, and was lotioning her face and arms, the towel wrapped around her torso, when a knock sounded on the door.

“Yes?” she called. The door opened, and Sergeant Coopers eyes widened when he saw her. Amy was still without her glasses, and she wasn’t able to see him very clearly.

“Get back in the shower,” he said, and he closed the door behind him. His eyes swept across the room.

Amy stared at him. _What?_

“But I just lotioned,” she said, a hitch in her voice. She was _not_ getting naked in front of him. She was already way more naked than she wanted to be.

“Hm,” he hummed. “I’ll just get the water running then, while I undress.”

He walked passed her and turned on the water. The sound was loud to Amy’s ears. Sergeant Cooper turned her around, his hands on her bare shoulders. He was standing much too close.

“I don’t think the bathroom is bugged, and the sound of the shower will most likely drown out anything we say so it won’t be picked up by the mics in the room,” he muttered softly.

“Oh,” Amy said, realising he hadn’t wanted her to shower in front of him, he just needed the water running.

“I e-mailed Leonard as much information as I could possibly give him, and instructions for the interrogation tomorrow as well. I searched the room for camera’s; there are none. I haven’t found any mics yet, but they could be hidden anywhere,” he continued, barely audible over the sound of the shower running.

“Okay,” Amy answered.

“This can be helpful, we can just go into the bathroom to talk should we need to,” Sergeant Cooper said. “Just not too often, because it would be a little too much to shower all the time.”

Amy nodded.

“Was there anything you wanted to say?” he asked.

Amy shrugged. His hands were still on her bare shoulders, and somehow it made it hard for her to form a coherent sentence. “No, not right now. I’ll leave you to shower then?”

“Okay,” he said, giving her a firm nod.

Amy turned away from him and packed her discarded clothes. “Oh, wait!” just when she reached the door, did she think of something. “I sleep on the left side of the bed, is that okay?”

Sergeant Cooper raised an eyebrow at her. “I brought multiple guns, Doctor Fowler,” he said. “There’s no need to put me closest to the door, in case intruders come.”

Amy blushed. She usually slept on the left side of her bed. That was all. The thought of sleeping with a loaded gun next to her hadn’t even crossed her mind.

“I-I just meant…” she started.

“You’ll have me as a personal body guard here, Amy. And I was going to sleep on the floor, but I’m not going to decline an invitation to sleep next to you,” he smirked.

Amy blushed. She was sure she blushed all over her body. Without another word, she hastily left the bathroom.

* * *

Amy lay on the left side of the bed, waiting for Sergeant Cooper to come back into the room. _Come into bed next to her._ She held her phone in her hand, messaging her neighbour for updates on Garfield. On her lap she had her notebook with a pen; she had taken notes on the crazy days she was having.

Perhaps it would make some nice poetry one day. Or a plot for one of her fanfictions.

Sergeant Cooper – no, Sheldon Tucker – entered wearing the most conservative set of pyjamas Amy had ever seen. He even seemed to be wearing a white t-shirt under his pyjama top. It wasn’t that cold in the hotel room. But she was wearing a pyjama designed for winter too, and it was spring time.

“Hey gorgeous,” he said. Amy dropped her phone in shock. She blushed. Her nightgown felt too hot already. Especially since he was climbing in the bed beside her.

“Hi,” she whispered. “How was your shower?”

She really didn’t know what couples talked about before bed. This seemed like a safe choice.

“The water pressure here is such an improvement from the one I have at home, I almost didn’t want to leave,” he said. Amy chuckled.

“I know right, it totally loosened up those knots in my back.”

Sergeant Cooper raised his eyebrows. “Knots in your back? Are you sure they are… _completely_ gone?”

He had his act as arrogant and overtly sexual boyfriend down to pat, but Amy really didn’t know how to respond. He was alluding to giving her a massage, it seemed. If she answered negatively, would he see it through and massage her?

Excitement rushed through her before she realised just what she was thinking.

Good God, what was _wrong_ with her?

She chuckled softly. “I’m really too tired to do anything of the sort,” she said softly. “But I will take a rain check on that massage.”

Sergeant Cooper’s eyes sparkled. “What massage? I wasn’t offering or suggesting anything,” he smirked.

Amy couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh, really? You’re saying you _weren’t_ suggesting to work on the knots in my back just now? We both know what happens when you start touching me, mister,” she said playfully, and she surprised them both with how easily she was flirting with him.

Maybe because she kind of wanted it to be true.

“It’s not my fault I can’t resist you,” he said darkly. Amy gulped. “But you’re right, we should sleep. What time do we have to get up again?”

“Uhm, 7:00,” Amy said breathlessly.

Sergeant Cooper made a sort of annoyed noise, and he bent over to turn off the nightlight next to him. The room was cloaked in relative darkness, but Amy could still make out Sergeant Cooper’s piercing eyes next to her.

“Good night, love,” he mumbled, before he shifted closer to her.

Amy knew what was coming. But her stomach bottomed out regardless from the nerves. His lips were soft against hers, and all signs pointed to him trying to give her a chaste kiss goodnight; his hands were nowhere near her body, and his puckered mouth was a tell-tale sign of his honest intentions.

That’s why it was a mystery to Amy that she found herself grabbing hold of his pyjama top, pulling herself flush against him as her mouth slanted over his. He groaned – out of shock or arousal – and Amy moaned into his mouth as his tongue brushed against the inside of her lips again. Hesitantly, her own tongue darted out and touched his.

The fire inside her burned even more than the day before, when their kiss had been for an audience.

There was no audience now; only the microphones picking up the smacking sounds of their kisses, the rustling of the blanket that hung over them, the exhales and tiny moans. Realisation of what they were doing must have registered with Sergeant Cooper, because he pulled away from her.

His eyes were almost black. There was little light in the room after all. It made sense. Amy blushed hard under his scrutinizing gaze.

_Fuck._ She had basically pawned at him.

“I thought you were too tired to do anything, babe,” he said, gazing at her. Amy’s heart constricted in her chest. This wasn’t Sergeant Cooper, but Sheldon Tucker speaking to her.

“Maybe you’re not the only one who has trouble resisting someone,” she whispered – taking the role of Girlfriend!Amy instead of Doctor Fowler. Her hands moved over his chest. He felt almost sculpted. Her arousal only grew more with her touching him like this.

He chuckled. “Come here,” he mumbled, and he pulled her half on top of him.

Amy froze. Her head lay on his chest, his heartbeat thumping under her ear. His arm was around her shoulders, holding her against him. Her breasts were smashed against his side. What was she supposed to do now? Wrap herself around him? Fall asleep on his chest?

She and Faisal hadn’t cuddled those two times they had had sex. She didn’t know how to do this.

He must be able to tell she was tense with nerves. His hand brushed over her arm in a sort of soothing motion. “There’s no need to be nervous for tomorrow,” he said, and Amy furrowed her brow in confusion. _What was tomorrow?_ Or was he talking about her nervousness now?

“You know me, I’m always kind of nervous around new people,” she said, thinking it would sound okay enough.

“And you know there is absolutely no reason for that, just be yourself,” he pressed a kiss to her temple. Amy exhaled slowly, leaning into him.

“Alright.”

She really couldn’t figure out what they conversation was actually about. Were they talking about their kisses escalating? Or were they just improvising some sort of conversation between two lovers?

The thoughts kept running through her head. When were they acting? When weren’t they? No – scratch that; when was _she?_ That kiss had been all her. He hadn’t intended to let that kiss go beyond a simple peck, but she had made sure he did.

But he had played along. At least for a while. Why? Because he wanted to? Or because Sheldon Tucker would have wanted to?

She was still overthinking every move and every action – his and hers.

It was exhausting.

“Go to sleep, Amy,” Sergeant Cooper said. And it was actually Sergeant Cooper this time. She could hear the subtle difference in his voice now.

“G’night,” she whispered. She fell into a fitful sleep, her head still on his chest.

* * *

Amy woke in the middle of the night – or not, the sun was peeking through the curtains. At least it was before the alarms. She was on her right side, and Sergeant Cooper was flush against her back. His left arm felt heavy as it lay across her abdomen.

Amy blinked her eyes open.

They were _spooning._

There was no reason to do that; their spooning made no noise. The microphones wouldn’t be able to pick it up. She wondered how they had ended up in this position. Was it his or her subconsciousness that had made them lie so close to each other?

Or was it both of them?

She carefully extracted herself from his arms and turned around. He looked fast asleep still. His features were almost boyish in sleep. Amy couldn’t believe she had been lying in his arms like a real couple would do. It must have been a natural response, she figured, the cuddling in bed.

Because if it wasn’t she would have to admit to herself that she was developing feelings for this man and she was nowhere near ready for that.

Amy walked quietly to the bathroom and started to get ready for the day. Waking up together would be tremendously awkward, and she was happy to have some time to herself.

After her shower, Amy walked into the room again wearing one of the fluffy, white robes the hotel provided. Sergeant Cooper was awake now, and he was seated in bed. In his hands he held his iPad, his eyes moved over the screen rapidly.

“Good morning,” Amy said, her voice was rough with sleep still; it made her sound almost sultry.

He looked up and did a double-take when he saw her dressed in just the robe. “Good morning,” he said, his voice oddly low as well.

He beckoned her closer with his hand, and Amy awkwardly walked up to him, strangely aware of how little she was wearing. When she was within reach, he grabbed for her hand and pulled her towards him. His mouth pressed against hers in a closed-mouthed kiss.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked as he pulled away. It was his Sergeant Cooper voice.

“I did,” Amy nodded. “I slept really well,” she added.

His eyes sparkled up at her. “Good,” he said, “so did I.”

Amy bit her lip to keep from grinning. “You were all over me in your sleep,” she said suggestively.

Sergeant Cooper’s eyes became dark as he stared at her. Amy swallowed awkwardly. _She had gone too far._ But he had pulled her closer to kiss her good morning, that wasn’t _really_ necessary now, was it?

“Of course I was,” he said smoothly, just in time before the silence became too uncomfortable.

Amy giggled softly. She had no idea who was talking now, but it had to be Sheldon Tucker. _Right?_

“Let me get ready real quick. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us, little lady.”

And with that he left Amy standing by their bed – _their bed_ – her head filled with conflicting thoughts and her body high-strung with suppressed arousal.

She had survived one night next to him now. She was almost certain she would survive two more.

**To be continued**


	11. The Question Round

**Chapter 10**

**The Question Round**

Sergeant Cooper dressed in something a little more presentable than his comic book t-shirts. Amy wore one of her nicer ensembles, and from the way he looked at her he thought so too. Or maybe it was just pretend-boyfriend Sheldon Tucker whose eyes roamed over her legs.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” he asked, as they left the hotel room.

Amy didn’t answer, they were in the hall way now, there was no need to keep up the act.

“Well?” he asked, as they waited for the elevator.

“Oh!” Amy exclaimed. “Uhm, there’s the key note speaker, and then after lunch I wanted to go to a lecture on brain lesions.”

“Fun,” Sergeant Cooper said drily.

“Well, they are. Not if you’re the one having them, but overall they are really fascinating,” Amy smiled at him.

He merely looked back at her. “Fascinating isn’t the word I’d use for brain lesions. There is a lecture by George Smoot this afternoon too. He won a Nobel prize in physics. I’m sure it’s much more fun to hear what he is up to now,” he said.

Amy had no time to really question his knowledge on Nobel laureates, since the elevator got to the ground floor. He indicated her to go ahead, and they walked up to the breakfast buffet.

They had taken their seats opposite each other when his phone rang. “Excuse me,” he mumbled, wiping his mouth with his napkin.

“Cooper,” he said as he answered. Amy raised her eyebrows at him. _Weren’t they supposed to stay in character?_

“I think the instructions are pretty self-explanatory, Hofstadter,” he barked. “What do you mean, ‘no grounds to bring him in’? He is the person in charge of the establishment where the break-in was. Just bring him in and talk to him.”

Sergeant Cooper sounded unamused, and his anger combined with the powerful way he was speaking made Amy stare at him as if in a trance.

“And remember what I sent last night,” he said with a tone of finality. “I expect a full report, and if that’s unavailable, a copy of the audio.”

He hung up and started to attack his omelette almost angrily.

“Everything alright babe? Is your brother bothering you again?” Amy asked sweetly.

Sergeant Cooper looked up from his plate. “I shouldn’t have left LA. Hofstadter is too much of a softie to handle an interrogation like this,” he mumbled.

Amy guessed they had dropped their covers altogether.

“Is that why you interrogated me by yourself?” she asked, wondering how different the interrogation would have going with Detective Hofstadter.

“Hofstadter was watching,” he said dismissively.

“Why wasn’t he in the room with you? Did you think I needed the _bad cop_ bit to be truthful?” Amy was genuinely curious.

“Honestly? A little,” he said.

Amy balked back. “Okay, wow,” she muttered, slightly hurt. She picked at her eggs, her earlier hunger gone.

“Amy,” Sergeant Cooper started, and it was still weird to hear him say her first name. As if he sensed he had hurt her somehow. She didn’t even know why she felt insulted. He had just been doing his job. And he hadn’t gone too far in the interrogation. But still.

She looked up at him defiantly.

“We should go,” she said. “I don’t want to miss the keynote speaker.”

Sergeant Cooper stared at her for a minute. He gulped down his tea, and got up from the table. Amy walked ahead of him, and it was only when he grabbed her hand and pulled her back firmly, did she turn to look at him.

She expected an apology, but he just looked at her. “Did you bring your gun?” he asked, his voice low and soft.

Amy blinked at him. “No,” she said. “It’s upstairs. But you’re with me, aren’t you?”

His eyes moved over her outfit. “You won’t be able to conceal it anyway, wear something different tomorrow,” he said.

Amy didn’t know how to respond to this, so she didn’t. They walked to Berkeley in silence, Amy was still pissed off. Why, she wasn’t really sure. For some reason the fact that Sergeant Cooper had felt the need to put on the bad-cop-act for her irked her. Had he really thought she was a suspect? What made him change her mind? Her distress over Ricky? Or her recounting of her sad life?

He reached for her hand again when they entered the building, and Amy had no choice but to let him hold it. She squeezed him unnecessarily hard. Just because.

* * *

Amy’s anger ebbed away over the course of the morning, and while she tried to focus on the lecture, she couldn’t help but be annoyed with the sergeant next to her. He was wearing an earpiece, and he was zoned out for the half of the lecture.

“You could at least pretend to pay attention,” Amy hissed at him.

“I am paying attention,” he said, raising an eyebrow at him. “The speaker has been droning on about the neurological implications of the latest Japanese research on Alzheimer’s disease. As if an article on that topic wasn’t already published in last month’s _Neuron._ ”

Amy stared at him. She had read the same article, but why would Sergeant Cooper read this?

“His views aren’t at all interesting, that’s why I decided to plug into the interrogation room at the precinct,” he continued, handing her the other earpiece.

Amy inserted the earpiece in her ear and moved closer to Sergeant Cooper subtly. That way it would look like they were just sitting close together instead of doing something else.

Detective Hofstadter’s voice sounded in her ear.

_“… it checked out. You can give the details of the restaurant to Detective Winkle later…. Have you spoken to Doctor Fowler since the break-in?”_

Amy turned to Sergeant Cooper in shock. Did he have a direct connection with the precinct? How?

_“I have,”_ President Siebert sounded pissed off. “ _I spoke to her first thing on Monday. I care about my employees, you know.”_

_“And your workdays start mid-morning?”_

_“Excuse me?”_

_“According to our information, you didn’t speak to Doctor Fowler until late in the morning,”_ Leonard was quick to say.

_“Well, first thing, second thing. It doesn’t really matter now, does it? The point is; yes, I spoke to her.”_

_“Tell me about this conversation, President Siebert.”_

Just when it was about the get interesting, the sounds of practically a hundred chairs moving around them cut through the static, and the connection cut out. Amy looked up; the speaker was leaving the stage. She had missed the ending of the speech.

“What! I want to hear what he says!” Amy said.

Sergeant Cooper chuckled. “I’ll ask Hofstadter for a mp3-file of the interrogation later. You can listen to it instead of the brain lesion lecture.”

Amy had a feeling he was trying to make up to her for pissing her off that morning. Before he had said he couldn’t share too much of the investigation with her, and now he was letting her listen to another colleague interrogating her _boss._

That couldn’t be allowed. Could it?

* * *

Detective Hofstadter hadn’t sent the recording of the interrogation yet when they went to the brain lesion lecture. It meant that they were both paying attention now, and it felt like a strange date. The two of them attending a lecture together.

Amy didn’t agree with a lot of views the speaker had, and couldn’t help but huff indignantly from time to time.

“His logic is completely flawed,” Sergeant Cooper muttered in her ear, and the closeness caused a thrill to go through her.

“Yeah, it is,” Amy mumbled back. “His research isn’t designed properly. The results will always be insignificant like this.”

“We’re wasting our time here,” he replied.

Amy gave him a look. What else did he want to do with his time? It wasn’t as if they had anything else to do here, besides attending various lectures or talking to other scholars.

The lecturer ended his speech, and opened the floor for questions for the attendees. Before she could stop him, Sergeant Cooper had gotten up and walked up to one of the standing microphones. Amy stared at him.

“Yes, thank you,” he said when he was given the floor. _What the hell was he doing?_

“Doctor Greene, while I admire your ambition to simplify science for the masses, don’t you agree with me that your time would be better spent doing solid research with actual plausible hypotheses to test, instead wasting university funding by deliberately taking unprovable theories to try to prove?” 

Amy wished the ground would swallow her whole.

The silence was deafening for a second. Then, someone somewhere in the audience whooped. In another corner of the room someone started to applaud.

“Excuse me?” Doctor Greene asked, with a little hitch in his voice.

“I think my statement is clear enough,” Sergeant Cooper said into the microphone.

Amy was blushing. While he was saying what she was thinking (and apparently some of the others in the audience as well), she wished he didn’t. It was a little embarrassing, to be with him here, among her peers.

She was so focussed on her burning face and her desire to be as invisible as possible that she completely missed the reply Doctor Greene gave. Sergeant Cooper was smirking slightly when he sat back down.

“Well, at least now it wasn’t a complete waste of time,” he said, grinning still.

Amy looked at him incredulously. If he were any other man, she would have thought he was trying to impress her.

* * *

They had dinner with the other people attending the conference, and Sergeant Cooper didn’t embarrass her any further. They got good practice in playing boyfriend and girlfriend; he held out her chair for her to sit, and at dinner he gave her small smiles as if they had shared secrets.

She guessed in a way, they had.

“This day was exhausting,” Amy said on their walk back to the hotel. Sergeant Cooper hummed in agreement.

Amy was already nervous at the prospect of kissing him goodnight again.

They turned a corner, into a busy street filled with people. The noise around them was a getting louder with each step. Amy looked around, they were surrounded by partygoers. It was a Wednesday, but it looked like some sort of concert or event was about to take place.

Sergeant Cooper walked ahead of her through the throng of people. Someone bumped into Amy, and she fell sideways. Her hand lost its grip on the sergeant’s hand.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going, bitch!”

Amy looked up at the person she had bumped into; a giant of a man. “Sorry,” she mumbled quickly, holding up her hands.

That was a mistake. He grabbed her wrists, and pulled her towards him.

“You made me spill my beer, so I don’t think ‘sorry’ is gonna cut it,” he said close to her face, and he squeezed her wrists to a point of pain.

“I said I was sorry! Let me go!” Amy raised her voice, and she tried to pull her wrists free. Her brain was malfunctioning, and she couldn’t seem to remember the moves to make to pull herself free. To say she was panicking was an understatement.

“What seems to be the problem here?” Sergeant Cooper piped up, and Amy couldn’t help but feel relieved.

“Beat it, stretch. This doesn’t concern you,” the man said, barely giving Sergeant Cooper a glance.

“Oh, but it does,” he said firmly, and within the blink of an eye he had wrestled Amy’s wrists free from the man’s grasp. Amy could only look on as the thug took hold of Sergeant Cooper’s arm.

People were starting to look at them.

“You wanna fight?” the man said.

“No, we don’t,” Amy said quickly. “Here’s a couple dollars for that beer,” she pulled a ten dollar bill out of her jacket pocket, “I’m sorry again.”

The man released Sergeant Cooper’s arm. They stared at each other.

“This is no way to talk to a lady,” Sergeant Cooper said vehemently.

It was escalating again, and Amy worried for what might happen.

“Come,” Amy said, talking hold of the sergeant’s arm and pulling him with her. Before they turned around, Sergeant Cooper lifted his other arm and wrapped it around Amy’s shoulders.

Amy saw the thug’s eyes widen at the sight of the holstered gun strapped to the sergeant’s side.

“Come on,” Amy repeated, and she pulled the both of them around. It was even harder to walk through the mass of people now, with their combined width.

They turned another corner, and Amy sighed in relief when she saw their hotel. She removed the arm from around her shoulders.

“Thanks for that,” she mumbled.

“We’re going to have to repeat your training. You should have been able to pull yourself free, or at least have enough sense to knee him in the groin,” he said instead of acknowledging her gratitude.

“Yeah, I know,” Amy said. She was annoyed herself.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” the sergeant said, and he took hold of her hand. “It takes time and practice for self-defence to become a second nature.”

Amy wondered if it was self-defence that caused him to go off at that man like that. It seemed a little too much, in her opinion.

“Well, it’s a good thing I have you with me until that. Thanks for coming to my rescue then,” she said.

“It’s alright,” he said, awkwardly.

Amy had a feeling they should discuss this further. At the very least they should be discussing if he would be giving her more self-defence training. They had reached the hotel without another word, and their ride in the elevator was silent.

“Are you ready to play my girl again?” he said right before the doors opened.

Amy’s heart skipped a beat. He could have said _girlfriend,_ or _love interest,_ or _partner._ But ‘my girl’ sounded incredibly possessive and for some reason it did things to her.

“I am,” Amy said, more to herself than to him. She needed no reminding of what charade waited behind their hotel door. It had been all she had been able to think about during dinner.

They walked into the room, and Amy watched Sergeant Cooper take off his jacket and his holster. She herself stepped out of her heels, and hung her blazer on the back of a chair.

Sergeant Cooper took a seat at the foot of the bed. He sighed deeply.

“What’s wrong?” Amy asked, walking towards him.

He merely shook his head. “Nothing,” he said, his eyes on the floor in front of him. “I just need to learn to control myself. I almost took a swing at that man for touching you.”

Amy felt a hot flash go through her. She loosened the cuffs of her blouse and undid the top few buttons at her collar. It was way too hot in the room.

Plus, it was time to play the part of Girlfriend!Amy.

“I don’t mind you losing control if it’s to protect me,” she said sweetly, coming to a halt in front of him.

Sergeant Cooper looked up at her. His blue eyes moved questioningly over her face for a split-second, before he gave her a lazy grin.

“You don’t, do you?” he asked, his hands taking hold of her hips. He pulled her between his opened legs.

Amy shook her head languidly and then realised she had to make noises for the microphones to pick it up. “Watching you go all Texan-protective on me?” she said suggestively, “That was kind of hot.”

Sergeant Cooper just stared at her. He squeezed her hips. Amy trembled a little. _What was she doing?_

“Was it?” he asked, his voice low and raspy – it made Amy’s panties uncomfortably damp.

“Hmmm,” Amy hummed. She was playing the part of Girlfriend!Amy now, she reminded herself. Therefore, it was perfectly reasonable to hike up her skirt, take hold of his shoulders and straddle his lap.

Sergeant Cooper was replaced with Sheldon Tucker now as well, it seemed. He held her gaze as she moved first her left knee next to him on the bed, and her right knee quickly after on the other side. She swallowed thickly, realising she had spread her legs for him. The hands on her hips pulled her down firmly, and she practically fell against him.

Her heart palpitated. Her blood rushed through her veins. Arousal burned in her lower belly.

Sergeant Cooper was amazing at playing his undercover counterpart. His eyes never left hers.

“Thank me properly then,” he demanded roughly, his mouth inches from hers.

Amy looked at him hesitantly. It’s just acting, _just acting –_ she reminded herself. He was just playing the part of possessive, southern boyfriend and she was his naïve, sweet girl.

_Just acting._

But it felt all too real when she leaned into him and kissed his mouth. He was right there with her; his lips moved over hers. Urgently. Filled with tension. His tongue brushed against her mouth, prying her lips open. Amy met his tongue halfway.

She moaned in his opened mouth as his hands moved from her hips to her ass. He squeezed her; first through her skirt, but he pulled her skirt up: fast and impatiently. Amy squeaked when she felt his hands on her bottom, just her panties and her pantyhose between the rough palms of his hands and her ass.

Sergeant Cooper made a low groaning sound in the back of his throat – for the microphones, obviously – and he pulled her with him as he laid down on the bed. Amy was hanging over him like she had when they had been practicing her physical combat, and the sensations from that time came rushing back to her.

The tension, the closeness. The masculinity.

He flipped them over effortlessly. Amy moaned softly when he pulled back from her face and kissed her neck instead. She trembled under him, her skirt was pushed up fully now and Sergeant Cooper seemed to be settling in between her legs. Amy couldn’t help herself; she bucked up against him. She gasped in surprise when she felt something push back against her.

Was that - - ?

Suddenly the kisses in her neck stopped, his hips were nowhere near hers, and Sergeant Cooper’s blue eyes were in front of her. He stared at her. Amy forced herself to keep making eye contact with him, no matter what it was doing to her.

“Why don’t we continue this in the shower?” he said, his voice sounded low and seductive, but his eyes were questioning.

Amy’s stomach dropped. He was putting a stop to it.

She didn’t know how, but somehow their pretend-boyfriend-girlfriend-kisses turned into a prelude to actual sex. It scared her. Her thoughts were a mess, and she watched as if in a haze how Sergeant Cooper climbed off her and walked to the bathroom.

How on earth were they going to discuss this?

She didn’t know how to act now, after jumping him like a horny teenager. Her stomach filled with dread, and her skin felt sweaty, but not in the good way she had felt before.

She feared the confrontation that awaited her in the bathroom, but above that, she feared her own behaviour. Because while she didn’t know what had possessed her to get carried away like that, she knew one thing for sure:

If he hadn’t pulled back from her, she wouldn’t have stopped.

**To be continued**


	12. The Cover Up

**Chapter 11**

**The Cover Up**

The shower was already running when Amy came in. Sergeant Cooper was standing by the sink, taking deep breaths while he held onto the ceramic edge. Amy tried not to glance at his crotch.

She closed the door behind her, her hands trembled as she did. It was a strange combination of shame and arousal that she felt. She had completely lost her cool just now.

“We need to talk,” Sergeant Cooper said, speaking quietly despite the noise the water hitting the shower wall made.

Amy really, really, _really_ didn’t want to. She just wanted to forget about this. She felt strangely rejected, and it was preposterous that she did.

They were working a case together; a break-in. Her favourite monkey was missing. And, due to some weird circumstances, they were spending way too much time together. Time spent pretending to be romantically involved. It was only logical that the lines between them would blur.

“Do we?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said firmly. “Hofstadter has send me the rest of the interrogation with Siebert. I just got an e-mail with the file. He says they need to check out some parts of his alibi, but overall he doesn’t seem suspicious.”

Amy blinked at him.

“Which would be pretty dramatic for the investigation, because that would mean our lead suspect could be innocent. And we are wasting our time staying too far away from the scene of the crime,” he continued.

“Oh,” Amy mumbled.

Sergeant Cooper stared at her. “ _Oh._ Is that all you have to say? You do understand that we’re no closer to finding out who is behind this than we were last Saturday?”

“No, I do understand,” Amy said, feeling even more foolish than before. “I-I just… I thought you wanted to talk about what happened just now.. On the bed.”

“We have more important things to worry about than your inability to keep it in your pants,” Sergeant Cooper hissed.

Amy scoffed. “Excuse me?” she said, raising her voice.

Sergeant Cooper widened his eyes at her. “Keep it down,” he muttered. “And you heard me.”

Amy gaped at him. He had some nerve, putting the blame on her.

“I resent your implications, _officer,_ ” Amy spoke vehemently. “Or are you denying the fact that you had an erection just now?”

Sergeant Cooper had the decency to blush. “You’re a biologist, Doctor Fowler,” he said, raising his head in defiance. “You of all people should know the physiological responses the human body can have to insistent stimuli.”

She had hardly touched him. The same couldn’t be said about him. Her ass still felt tingly with the ghost of his hands.

“I thought you said there were no cameras,” Amy rebutted. Two could play this game. “Care to explain to me why you were practically groping me then?”

Sergeant Cooper raised an eyebrow at her.

“I see that your lack of sexual experience makes you think that even the slightest touch is meant as a come-on,” he said snidely, “but let me assure you, Doctor Fowler, I have _no_ interest in you beyond the professional relationship we have.”

Amy tried not to let the hurt on her face show.

“Good,” she replied primly. “That’s actually a big relief, now I can stop thinking of nice ways to turn you down.”

Sergeant Cooper stared at her. His jaw ticked.

“Good,” he echoed.

Amy blushed under his scrutinizing gaze. She wondered if he believed her. Or if she should believe him when he said he didn’t want her.

Was either one of them that good of an actor?

* * *

She ended up leaving him to take an actual shower while she laid down on the bed, desperate to keep her mind occupied with something other than _him_. She settled on watching an old episode of Brooklyn 99 on the television mounted to the wall. Sergeant Cooper came back into the room, wearing a robe like she had that morning.

Amy looked up at him, she was still a little pissed off, but tried to keep a neutral face.

“I’m going to go brush my teeth,” she said, as she walked to the bathroom.

“Yes,” Sergeant Cooper nodded. “And please stop watching this nonsense, it’s completely unrealistic.”

“It’s a television show,” Amy replied tiredly. “And do whatever you want, I’m going to shower too. I don’t think I actually got any cleaner when we were in there together earlier.”

Her flirty tone had to come from far, but she was pretty pleased with her overall acting abilities.

Sergeant Cooper’s eyes darkened. “Oh, I think we both know you need an actual shower after that,” he supplied quickly. “Don’t forget to wash your hair, too… I think some of it ended there instead of that sweet mouth of yours.”

Amy’s face felt like it was on fire. Her whole body felt flushed with heat. She gaped at him.

He was seriously suggesting she had spent their joint shower on her knees doing something she had only read about in romance novels.

And he was suggesting it to her boss no less.

“I’d watch your tone if I were you,” she said. “If you keep that up, I’ll go back to only doing that on your birthday.”

And with that Amy walked into the bathroom with as much dignity as she had in her, leaving him speechless by their bed.

* * *

Despite scrubbing her body vigorously with the complementary exfoliating shower gel, Amy still felt tight with pent up frustration and arousal. But masturbating in the hotel’s shower without a lock on the door and Sergeant Cooper just on the other side of the wall wasn’t an option.

She would just have to power through.

She still couldn’t believe the nerve he had. Although, she had to admit that the second he suggested that she had given him a blowjob in the shower, that had been all she was able to think about while standing there.

Amy had read about the act of course, in magazines and in fanfictions written by fellow authors. She just didn’t have any experience in the matter. Sergeant Cooper probably knew this. He seemed on to her. And he had only made that comment to piss her off.

Or maybe he had been thinking about her doing _that_ as well when he showered before her. Amy’s stomach swooped with more arousal than before.

He had been aroused when they were kissing. He tried to hide it, but she knew it when she felt it. Was it just a bodily response to stimuli? Or was he more into her than he claimed?

Amy shut off the shower and proceeded to dry off and brush her teeth. It was all too much, this pretend-relationship with the police sergeant turned personal bodyguard. The continuing tenseness around them was tiring her out.

So much so that she forgot to bring her nightgown to the bathroom.

Well, since he claimed not to be interested in her anyway, there was no reason for her to be self-conscious about walking around in a towel. Amy held her head high as she walked into the room, acting like it was normal to be practically naked around him. One of her hands had a death grip on the top of the towel.

She could see Sergeant Cooper look up from his iPad in the corner of her eye. He was wearing his earphones, and Amy had to assume he was listening to the interrogation.

She could feel his eyes on her back as she walked over to the dresser where she put her underwear. Amy opened the drawer and assessed its contents. Perhaps she should wear something different to bed tonight? It had been awfully warm in her long nightgown the night before.

Amy didn’t know where her sudden courage came from, probably from her residual anger towards the sergeant, but she grabbed a pair of black panties and a camisole.

The sergeant’s eyes were on her; she could see them clearly in the reflection of the mirror above the dresser.

Amy closed the drawer. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Inhaling deeply, she took the panties and bent down so she could step into them. She pulled them up her legs, and briefly flashed her naked bottom to the prying eyes of Sergeant Cooper.

She met his gaze in the mirror. He looked back at her unblinkingly, his jaw tense.

Her hands moved to the top of the towel she was wearing. Sergeant Cooper looked at her for another beat before he averted his eyes.

Amy felt herself blush. She had been about to flash him. And he really wasn’t interested.

Feeling foolish and ashamed, she opened the drawer again and threw the camisole back. As quickly as she could, she walked over to the bed and grabbed her nightgown from underneath her pillow. Sergeant Cooper’s hand shot out and grasped her wrist, making her look up at him.

His eyes burned her. And so did Amy’s face. Her entire body felt flushed.

He stared at her face. Her throat felt dry, but her back was getting slick with sweat.

“What?” Amy asked after the silence surrounding them felt unbearable.

Sergeant Cooper swallowed. “I was listening to a really interesting podcast while you were in the shower,” he said. “You should listen to it as well, I think you’ll be enlightened.”

“Enlightened?” Amy repeated. “Wow, that must be some podcast then.”

“It is,” he answered. “I was almost done, I think. You don’t mind if I continue to listen to it for a bit longer? Or did you want to sleep already?”

“No, that’s fine,” Amy replied softly. “I have my book.”

“Alright,” Sergeant Cooper said, equally softly.

Amy quickly looked away from his eyes and she pulled her wrist free from his grasp. With her back turned to him and no way of him seeing any reflection of her, she quickly removed the towel from her body and pulled on her nightgown.

She climbed into bed, and looked at the sergeant. His cheeks seemed a little darker pink then before. He was still listening to an audio recording, and his eyes were watching a camera feed from the same interrogation room Amy had been in.

President Siebert looked annoyed more than anything, and Amy’s curiosity was peaked immediately.

Sergeant Cooper looked at her sideways, and Amy realised she was practically leaning against him to try to get a good look at the screen.

He paused the footage, and pulled out one of his ear pieces. He wiped it on his pyjama top before handing it to her. “You’re too curious for your own good,” he said, chuckling slightly.

Amy just shrugged, and tapped the screen of the tablet to resume the footage.

_“And how many people would you say have approached you today to talk about security measures at the university?”_ Detective Winkle asked, her tone bored.

_“Too many, that’s why I asked Doctor Fowler to take a few days off,”_ Siebert answered.

_“What has Doctor Fowler’s presence at the university to do with its security measures?”_ Detective Hofstadter took over the questioning.

_“Well, you can’t deny that someone is out to get her! With her out of the way, there is no reason for the university to be the place of another crime scene.”_

_“With her out of the way?”_

Siebert looked flustered. _“You know what I mean… I just thought it would be a good idea for her to take some days off.”_

_“Right,”_ Detective Winkle said. _“And she agreed?”_

_“Of course! It’s a great conference she’s going to. I even let her take my place. I would have liked to go myself, I only booked the hotel a few days ago after a fight with my wife about walking the dog. Or lack thereof.”_

Detectives Hofstadter and Winkle shared a look on the screen. So did Amy and the sergeant.

_“You were going to go yourself?”_ Detective Hofstadter clarified.

_“Yes!”_ Siebert seemed exasperated. _“I know I shouldn’t keep these trips to myself – I should give the employees the chance to go to these kinds of conferences too. But sometimes I just need to get away from the wife at home. You know how it is, don’t you, Detective?”_

_“I can’t say that I do,”_ Detective Hofstadter said.

_“Well, you just wait until you’re married for more than twenty years. It’s hard work.”_

_“Which hotel did you book?”_

_“Holiday Inn? Radisson Blue? I don’t know, my secretary does that sort of thing for me. Do you want me to ask her which hotel she booked?”_

President Siebert kept talking, but Amy had already taken the earpiece out. She moved away from Sergeant Cooper, trying to collect her thoughts.

He pulled out his earpiece as well, and pushed the side button of the tablet. It turned black instantly.

“Well,” Sergeant Cooper said. “That’s certainly interesting, isn’t it?”

Amy looked at him. _Were they still acting?_

“Very,” she just said.

Sergeant Cooper turned to the nightstand next to him, and grabbed his phone. He tapped the screen a few times, and held the phone to his ear.

“Hello,” he said. “I just watched what you send me. What do the records say?”

Amy assumed he was talking to Detective Hofstadter.

“Hm. And nothing on his laptop or phone either? Phone records clear too?” he was silent for a few minutes. “Alright. I guess we’ll discuss it, but we’ll probably come back earlier now. Okay, bye.”

He ended the call.

“So,” Amy said.

“So. Siebert’s alibi checks out. And, unless he and his secretary are working on some kind of scheme to get rid of you in a very elaborate way, we can only assume that he is innocent,” Sergeant Cooper said.

“We’re free to talk then?” Amy asked. He had completely blown their cover now.

“Yes,” he said. “Even if there _are_ microphones hidden here now, both Siebert and the secretary – Samantha, won’t be able to listen. Hofstadter has them watched at the moment. It seems as if this whole trip here was a waste of both our times.”

Amy felt disappointed.

“The brain lesion lecture was sort of fun, though,” she said.

“Right. Anyway, I think it’s wisest to cut this trip short. I’m of much better use in LA.”

Amy nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably for the best.”

Sergeant Cooper was typing an e-mail next to her. “I’ll ask Gablehauser for plane tickets. No use in spending another eleven hours on a train, wasting more precious time.” 

A few minutes later they lay side by side in the darkness of the room. Amy didn’t know what disappointed her more; the fact that the investigation wasn’t advancing at all with this new information, or the fact that she had no excuse to kiss Sergeant Cooper goodnight.

* * *

Amy got out of the shower, the steam clouding her vision. Her skin felt hot and prickly; maybe she had showered too hot. Or maybe she was just hot to begin with.

Being around Sergeant Cooper was turning her into a horny mess.

Never before had she experienced this kind of pent up frustration. It made her nervous, and flustered and desperate all at once.

Amy wrapped the towel around her body and walked over to the sink. She sighed deeply. Thank God the trip would be over after today. She wouldn’t survive another night next to him. Amy swiped her hand over the fogged up surface of mirror, and jumped when she saw him in the reflection.

Sergeant Cooper.

_When had he come in?_

He wasn’t even wearing his pyjamas anymore, but the uniform he wore the day she first met him. Why would he have brought that on this trip? It made no sense. They were supposed to be undercover the whole time.

“Officer?” she asked, questioningly. She turned around.

He was looking at her with that penetrating gaze of his. The one that made her weak in the knees.

“Doctor Fowler,” he said, his voice firm and commanding.

“Is something wrong?” Amy asked, unsure. She felt more than a bit exposed, wearing just a towel.

“Oh, most definitely,” Sergeant Cooper said, and he pulled the handcuffs loose from his belt. “I’m going to have to take you in.”

“T-take me in?” Amy repeated dumbly, her mind in overdrive. She had stopped listening after he said ‘ _take you’._

“You’ve been trying to tempt me, Doctor Fowler. Obstructing justice in doing so,” he explained.

“Obstructing justice?” she echoed blankly.

“Yes,” he was walking towards her now, and he grabbed her wrist and turned her back around. Amy held his gaze in the mirror. Her other wrist was pulled back, and he fastened the cuffs around her wrists easily.

“Flashing an officer on duty? I was busy investigating at that moment. What if it made me miss something, hm?” he was standing way too close to her, almost flush against her back.

Amy trembled, and she felt her treacherous body respond to his closeness. She didn’t know what to say to him; he held her gaze in the mirror in front of them, and his hands moved from her wrists up her arms. Amy shivered.

“And then not to see it through? Do you have any idea what it’s doing to me, having you this close to me but not being allowed to touch you?” he whispered.

Amy gasped; his hands moved from her upper arms to her breasts. The towel dropped to the floor, and Sergeant Cooper’s eyes scorched her. Amy could feel that bulge again, pressing against her lower back.

She moaned loudly when his hands took hold of her breast, his fingers working her nipples to tight peaks. “AHH,” she mewled. The tingles moved through her, a warm sensation coursed through her veins as he twisted her nipples expertly. Arousal burned in her lower belly.

“Tell me you want me, Amy,” he whispered in her ear, his mouth on her neck then, kissing her, lavishing her skin. Branding her as his.

“I want you,” she breathed out, helpless against his ministrations, unable to touch him or herself with her hands cuffed to her back.

Sergeant Cooper sucked on the skin of her neck. His right hand let go of her breast and moved down, caressing the skin of her belly. Amy shook with desire. She spread her legs for him.

“How much do you want me?” he asked, his voice sounded almost mocking. His fingers were below her bellybutton now, and Amy groaned in frustration.

“Please,” she mumbled, and her voice broke off in a loud moan as he twisted her nipple roughly with his other hand. “Please, officer…”

His hand slipped between her legs, and he was _almost there_. And Amy was so high strung. It would only take a single touch, with the right pressure at the right angle for her to - -

She woke up with a gasp. 

Amy breathed deeply, trying to calm her racing heart. Her whole body tingled with arousal, and she had never felt this tense in her life. It was as if she could still _feel_ Sergeant Cooper’s hands on her skin. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest, and she was hot and wet with arousal between her legs.

She was almost sure she would orgasm within seconds should she reach into her underwear now.

Amy decided she had to calm down. She swallowed against the dryness in her throat, and blinked her eyes open.

Sergeant Cooper’s eyes were dark blue and piercing. He was staring at her.

Amy could only hope he hadn’t been awake too long. He sounded almost amused when he spoke to her, his voice raspy and low.

“Bad dream?”

**To be continued**


	13. The Mile-High Club

**Chapter 12**

**The Mile-High Club**

“Bad dream?”

Amy was sure that, despite the dark of the room, her blush was easily visible to him. She had to deny this, and quickly.

“You could say that,” she whispered back. “It was quite a nightmare. Horrible situation, really. Distressing. I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone.”

She was speaking at such a fast tempo, it was clear she was lying. Sergeant Cooper looked at her disbelievingly.

“You wouldn’t?” he just said.

“Oh no, absolutely not,” Amy said. She had to leave the bed. She couldn’t stay next to him. Water, that was what she needed. A big glass of cold water, to cool down.

“Excuse me, I’m getting a glass of water,” she said, throwing the blankets off her – it was too hot anyway – and making way to the bathroom.

“Doctor Fowler,” Sergeant Cooper called out just when she reached the door. Amy stopped and turned to look at him.

“If this is how you moan when in distress, it does make me wonder what kind of noises you make when you moan out of pleasure.”

Amy stopped in her tracks. She wasn’t going to respond to this. She couldn’t. She closed the door behind her when she entered the bathroom. She took a deep breath.

Just her luck to have the most erotic dream of her life, with her male counterpart sleeping next to her. Completely off limits.

She looked at herself in the mirror; her pupils were blown wide. Her cheeks were red. Her hair was tousled. If she didn’t know any better, she would say she looked well-fucked. Not that she had ever been that, but still.

Amy held her wrists under the streaming icy water, hoping to cool down a little too. She splashed her face and neck with it, but the water seemed to evaporate on her burning skin.

Figuring it wasn’t going to be better than this, she drank her final sips of water and walked back out in the bedroom. If Sergeant Cooper was even a little kind, he would be pretending to be asleep when she came back.

But his comment about her moaning – _what if she had actually moaned the “please, officer” part out loud? –_ had made her think that hoping was futile.

A stream of light shone into the room, illuminating the sergeant. He had taken off the top of his pyjamas. The white t-shirt he wore underneath was stretched obscenely across his chest. Really, would it be too much trouble to buy a shirt in a bigger size?

Amy didn’t want to comment on his state of undress, so she turned off the light in the bathroom and walked back to the bed without another word. Sergeant Cooper’s eyes followed her movements.

She glanced at him briefly, when she climbed back into bed. She wished she wasn’t wearing her nightgown now. It was way too warm.

“I can go book a different room at the front desk, since we’re not putting up a charade anymore,” Sergeant Cooper said.

Amy didn’t really know what to say. It was the middle of the night. It seemed like a little too much trouble, their alarms would be going off in a few hours already.

Or was he emphasising his lack of interest in her once again? And why had neither of them suggested getting an extra room when they realised this one wasn’t bugged?

“No, it’s fine,” Amy mumbled. “It’s just a few more hours.”

“If you say so,” the sergeant muttered. “But your earlier moaning suggests that you’ll harass me in my sleep, and I won’t be held responsible for the repercussions.”

Amy’s blush returned.

“Need I remind you that it was you who was wrapped around me this morning?” she asked – _or had an erection when we were kissing_ , she added mentally.

“Do you have any evidence to support that statement? I woke up flaccid, and by myself,” the sergeant rebutted quickly.

“I just said _wrapped around_ , Sergeant. No one mentioned penises, flaccid or erect,” Amy smirked. His eyes narrowed.

_Point Fowler._

“Care to tell me more about that dream you just had, Doctor Fowler?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

_Point Cooper._

“Not really, no. _Officer,_ ” she answered, her voice breathy on purpose.

Sergeant Cooper stared at her. She won this round. She was almost sure.

“We’d better get back to sleep then,” he said after a long pause. “ _Sweet dreams_.”

Amy’s heart palpitated. “Good night,” she whispered.

* * *

She really didn’t know when she had fallen asleep, or on which side she was laying when she did. But she woke up with her face pressed into his cotton t-shirt. Its owner was wrapped all around her. And she around him.

Her hands held the t-shirt in a firm grip, and her legs were wrapped around one of his. The bulge underneath his pyjama pants pressed against her belly. His arms held her firmly against him. The solid chest rose and fell steadily beneath her.

Amy swallowed thickly. Good Lord, what was wrong with them? She pulled back slightly, and to her horror the place where her face had been just now held a distinct wet spot.

She had been _drooling_ on him. That was even more embarrassing than the erection he was sporting – again.

Amy’s curiosity was peaked however. She wondered how it felt. It had been so long since she touched a man’s penis. Could she…?

Before she could even begin to move, the shrill sound of her alarm sounded.

Sergeant Cooper stirred. Amy was afraid to move. There was no way either one of them could come out of this looking completely innocent. His hands moved a little as he woke up fully. The grip on her bottom didn’t really lessen though.

Amy pulled back and looked at his face.

He looked at her for a moment, and his cheeks reddened a little.

“Good morning,” he rasped. Amy swallowed thickly.

“Morning,” she whispered.

He removed his hand from her behind and turned to his side, letting her go as he did. “Turn off that alarm, would you,” he said.

The moment between them broken.

Amy didn’t really know what the moment really was. Maybe their bodies just gravitated towards each other in the night. That had to be it. She turned to her bedside table and turned off her alarm.

She turned back and looked the sergeant hesitantly. He was inspecting the wet spot on his t-shirt.

“Did you salivate on me?” he asked, the disgust in his voice evident.

Amy blushed. “Did you wake up flaccid again today, Sergeant?” she rebutted.

He shifted in the bed, but was silent as he stared at her. It made Amy think he might still be… _non_ -flaccid.

“I’m going to get ready for the day,” she said, and she got out of the bed with her head held high.

She definitely won this round.

* * *

They were waiting to board the plane. Sergeant Cooper was watching the interrogation again; Amy had to guess she _had_ distracted him last night, just like he had claimed in her dirty dream. There was no other reason for him to watch it again; his eidetic memory should be remembering it all.

She wasn’t going to bother him with it.

Her thoughts were a mess. After the restless night she had, and now that she was no longer occupying a hotel room with him, she was finally able to think about what _really_ mattered.

The investigation. Ricky was still missing. And someone was still out there. Someone who was out to get her.

And she had no idea who.

Or why.

She tried to collect her thoughts again, her mind map was in her hands. Were there other people she had met or spoken to in the last couple of weeks that she could have angered somehow? Her life was way too boring for this. Wasn’t it?

A hand on her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts. “Come, we should get on the plane,” Sergeant Cooper’s voice came from far. Amy looked up. All the other passengers around them had thinned out, and there were only a couple of people standing at the line holding out boarding passes.

“Oh, I completely zoned out,” Amy said, embarrassed. She would have missed the plane if it weren’t for him.

Sergeant Cooper took her hand and pulled her from her seat. He didn’t let go until they were required to show their boarding passes and ID’s.

“Has Siebert been in touch with you?” he asked when they had settled in their seats. He let her take the window seat, while he sat at the aisle. She felt strangely touched.

“No, he hasn’t,” Amy said. They had checked out a day early, and the reception had talked about refunding the last night they wouldn’t spent there. Amy could only assume Siebert’s secretary would receive a notification.

“Hm,” Sergeant Cooper said. He took out his iPad and handed it to her. “I’ve prepared some follow-up questions based on yesterday’s footage. Is there anything we need to add to this?”

_‘Some questions’_ was a list of roughly thirty questions. They varied from Siebert’s background, to his motives to send her to this conference ( _Why send an employee to this conference, when he so obviously wanted to go himself?),_ to questions meant for his secretary Samantha ( _How often did she book hotels for him just a few days before an event?)._

Amy looked around, they were in the air now. Take off was always just a little bit exciting, and when she had glanced at Sergeant Cooper he had looked a little nervous as well when the wheels left the ground. 

“Can we talk freely here?” she whispered.

It was confusing her. First she was ordered to keep her cover up at all times, and now – while being surrounded by lots of other people, no less – he was talking about the investigation like it was no big deal.

She had no idea anymore when to turn back into Girlfriend!Amy and it was exhausting.

He looked around as well. The plane was almost full, surprisingly. And while a lot of people had earphones in as they watched some in-flight entertainment, a lot of other passengers were just flipping through magazines.

Sergeant Cooper unfastened his seatbelt. “Meet me in the bathroom in one minute,” he muttered.

Before Amy could respond to this suggestion, he had gotten up and walked to the back of the plane. Amy stared after him. She watched him go into the bathroom on the right.

Sitting back in her chair, she took a deep breath.

Either he didn’t know, or he didn’t care what it would look like if she followed him in there. Her heart was beating faster already. She exhaled slowly one more time and walked after him.

It had to be her imagination, but it felt like people were watching as she walked to the back of the plane.

The door wasn’t even locked. She pushed it open, it folded inwards like a harmonica. Sergeant Cooper stood there waiting for her. Amy quickly entered, and the door closed automatically behind her. Sergeant Cooper leaned closer, and he flipped the switch of the lock.

As if they weren’t close enough in the small confined space of the airplane bathroom already. The click of the lock sounded almost ominous.

“Well, what is it you wanted to say?” Sergeant Cooper said after a few moments of silence between them.

Amy had only been able to focus on the scent of baby powder surrounding him. She still didn’t know if he had a family at home, but she had to guess he hadn’t. She wouldn’t be lenient about her husband going away for days while pretending to be in a relationship with someone else, at least.

“I think we should still try to keep our cover story up,” Amy said.

Sergeant Cooper raised his eyebrows. “You do?”

“Yes,” Amy said, determinedly. “I just… I get confused when we drop our covers in public. I think it’s better for me, if we keep our covers up at all times whenever we’re around other people – besides the people from the precinct of course. If not I don’t know when I’m supposed to change back to Girlfriend!Amy. I keep being afraid that I’ll say the wrong thing at the wrong time and then our cover will be blown.”

Sergeant Cooper seemed to contemplate her arguments for a second.

“We do – We do have to keep pretending when we’re back in Pasadena, don’t we?” Amy added. 

“As long as the investigation is on-going, yes,” Sergeant Cooper replied. He narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re not just suggesting this because you’ve come to like holding my hand and kissing me?”

“What? No!” Amy was quick to defend herself.

He held her gaze for a moment. Amy stared back at him defiantly. She hated that she was blushing.

“Alright, we’ll keep the cover up, _love._ But I still need to know if you think I need to ask additional questions to either Siebert or Samantha. You can just add them to the list,” he said.

“I will,” Amy promised.

“Do you have anything else you wanted to say to me?” he continued.

Amy shrugged. “I’ve been working on my mind map, but I feel like I’m not making any progress whatsoever… Have I missed something?”

“Presumably,” Sergeant Cooper said.

Amy sighed. How were they ever going to find who was behind this? They had no leads. Not now Siebert seemed innocent. Amy didn’t want to think too much about their pretend goodnight kisses and flirtations in the hotel – all for a non-existing audience.

“Let me look at that mind map, maybe I’ll see connections you missed,” he said.

“Okay,” Amy mumbled.

Knowing that the investigation was doomed at the moment was suddenly registering with her. And it was almost a week since she had last seen Ricky. He wouldn’t understand what was going on. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Sergeant Cooper’s hands were on her shoulders, and she looked up at him.

“We’ll find him, the person responsible for this,” he said. He had said something similar before. Amy wondered if he believed it himself.

“What if we don’t?” Amy asked.

Sergeant Cooper smirked. “Christmas dinner in Texas, remember?” he quipped. Amy couldn’t help but chuckle. She wiped at her eyes.

“Come on, let’s go back to our seats,” she said. Amy turned with difficulty – the stall was really tiny – and moved to get the latch on the door.

“Hold on,” Sergeant Cooper said, taking hold of her wrist before she could unlock the door.

Amy turned slightly and looked at him questioningly. “Hm?”

“We can’t go out yet, we’ve only been here for 4 and half minutes,” he said.

“So?”

Sergeant Cooper scoffed. “I can see why you only had sex twice if you think 4 and half minutes of sex is acceptable,” he said.

Amy gaped at him.

Sergeant Cooper just shook his head in derision. “Come on, Amy, what is it that couples do in airplane bathrooms?” he asked, as if she was being deliberately slow.

“Ehm… sex, I guess,” she whispered. Her face felt like it was on fire.

“Exactly,” he replied, his voice low. He turned her around, and pushed her against the door.

Amy stared at him. He was practically in her face. He was smirking slightly, and Amy’s stomach bottomed out.

“You’re the one who just asked to keep our cover up, babe,” he whispered.

Amy was frozen in shock. One of his hands had taken hold of her hip, the other held her face, tilting her head upwards.

“You got any other ideas how to make it look like I gave it to you well?” he whispered, his breath hot on her lips.

Amy blinked in confusion; gave it to her _well?_

The sergeant took her silence as consent, apparently. She mewled in surprise when his mouth closed over hers. His tongue swept between her opened lips, and Amy had no choice but to meet him. And who was she kidding; she had wanted this.

She moaned softly when he pulled back slightly, and went back in. His teeth nibbled on her lower lip, and arousal zinged through her. Her moans got louder.

He grasped one of her hands and lifted it to his head. “Mess up my hair,” he ordered quietly, and he proceeded to kiss her jaw, her cheek. His mouth ended in her neck.

Amy held onto his head as he lavished the sensitive skin of her neck with kisses, bites and sucking motions. Her fingers moved through his hair, pulling on the tresses when he bit down particularly roughly.

He was marking her. Like in her dream.

She was getting embarrassingly aroused, and he was doing such a good job at making love bites on her neck she didn’t even notice he had unbuttoned her blouse until she felt the slightly cooler air across her stomach. As if she couldn’t get more aroused than this.

“Sheldon,” she breathed, pulling him up by his hair.

He gazed at her, his pupils were darker than usual. “I’m just going to button it back up crookedly,” he mumbled, and he proceeded to do that; he started to re-button her blouse, purposely putting the top button through a hole lower than the one it needed to go through.

Amy trembled slightly, her earlier ministrations on his hair forgotten. She could only look on how Sergeant Cooper’s fingers moved over her blouse, slightly brushing against her camisole covered skin.

He looked up. His eyes moved over her face. They came to rest on her lips.

“Almost,” he muttered, more to himself than to her.

He moved into her again, attacking her mouth with his lips. He nibbled on her, sucked her lips into his mouth, roughing up the sensitive skin doing so. Amy could hardly keep up with him. Both her hands were in his hair now, and she was rubbing her body wantonly against his. She lifted her leg, and pulled him against her by hooking her leg around him.

He had to be able to feel the heat coming from between her legs like this. She was too far gone to care about how he was _actually_ affecting her.

He pushed back against her however, and Amy mewled in his mouth. His low groans resonated through her.

“Stop that,” he mumbled as he pulled away from her. His eyes looked through her. “You’ll make me hard if you keep this up, Amy. This is supposed to be for show only.”

Amy nodded rapidly. _Yes,_ for show. She was just getting a little carried away. She felt a pang of disappointment in her chest when she realised just how unaffected he was by all this.

Meanwhile, she was a hot mess.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“It’s alright,” he whispered. “I think we’re about done now anyway, you look as if you were properly ravished now, at least.”

Amy blushed. She bit her lip and then quickly released it. Her lips felt almost sore.

“I’ll go out first,” Sergeant Cooper said, holding her gaze. “Don’t follow me too soon, okay?”

“Kay,” Amy nodded. They moved around each other awkwardly, so he was able to open the door and walk out the tiny bathroom.

Amy sighed deeply. She was so incredibly tense now. Perhaps she could lock the door and actually do something about the tenseness… She dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. The sergeant would definitely notice.

The woman she saw in the mirror was almost unrecognizable.

Her lips were bright red and swollen, her cheeks were flushed. Her hair was tousled – she didn’t even recall him messing that up. A purple bruise adorned her neck. Her blouse was wrinkled, its buttons askew.

At least now the passengers wouldn’t wonder what they had been up to. She looked thoroughly fucked.

Too bad she wasn’t.

**To be continued**


	14. The Unexpected Eavesdropper

**Chapter 13**

**The Unexpected Eavesdropper**

Had she ever felt as awkward as she did when she walked back to her seat? If she had, she couldn’t remember it. Passengers were looking at her; eyebrows raised in surprise or with mouths open. _Scandalous_ , their expressions seemed to say.

Amy was blushing fully when she got back to her seat and she had to climb over Sergeant Cooper’s legs to get to her seat by the window.

He smirked at her. “Your blouse is buttoned crookedly, love,” he said, loud enough for the people around them to hear.

“Whoopsie,” Amy giggled bashfully. She turned away from him towards the window to re-button her blouse. Sergeant Cooper chuckled.

Amy stiffened for a split-second when she felt his hand on her knee, but looked back at him. His eyes were sparkling at her.

“I can’t wait ‘til we get home so we can continue this in your bed,” he said.

Amy smiled awkwardly. _What did he mean?_ Did he mean he wanted to escort her home to talk some more?

Someone cleared their throat next to them. “Ahem, excuse me, sir?” it was one of the stewardesses, and this one had a pin with the word ‘ _purser’_ pinned to her uniform.

“Yes?” Sergeant Cooper said, looking up at her.

“I am here to inform you that your behaviour aboard this aircraft is not tolerated,” she said.

Sergeant Cooper raised his eyebrows. “My behaviour?” he asked.

“Of both of you, actually,” the stewardess blushed. “We can’t condone our passengers engaging in sexual acts on our aircrafts.”

“Excuse me?” Sergeant Cooper said, sounding scandalous. Amy didn’t know why he bothered; wasn’t that what they were going for?

“Other passengers saw the both of you come out of the same bathroom, sir,” the stewardess answered.

“While I won’t deny that we were both in the bathroom at the same time, I will deny there was anything happening of a sexual nature,” Sergeant Cooper continued. “And even if there were; it is not illegal do anything of the sort.”

The stewardess huffed. “Are you a lawyer then, sir?”

“No, I’m a sergeant with the LAPD,” he said, and he flashed his badge at her.

The stewardess balked back.

“And before you decide to file a complaint with my superior, need I remind you that you as an airline do not hold any jurisdiction here. The only option for you is to put me and my girlfriend here on a no-fly-list,” he shrugged. “But I do believe that yours is our preferred airline to fly with… would be a shame if we switched to, let’s say, United or Virgin?”

The stewardess looked at him unblinkingly for a minute.

“I’d like to suggest we forget this conversation, sir,” she said. “Would you be needing anything from us? We’ll start out descend in about half an hour.”

“A bottle of water for my girlfriend, if it’s not too much trouble,” he replied smoothly.

“I’ll get it to you straight away,” she mumbled, barely suppressing her anger. “Good day to you, sir. Miss.”

Amy gave her an awkward nod. It was only when she was out of earshot, that she dared to turn her face to Sergeant Cooper.

“Was that even true, about the jurisdiction and stuff?” she asked quietly.

“It doesn’t matter, does it?” he grinned. “At least now we know none of the passengers found us suspicious when we holed up in the bathroom; they all think we’re just horny for each other.”

He seemed smug with their ability to deceive everyone.

All Amy could think was that she wasn’t deceiving anyone. She was totally horny for him.

* * *

Detective Hofstadter was waiting for them at the arrivals hall. Getting their bags back had taken longer than Amy was used to, but apparently there was a whole protocol to checking in guns and other weapons.

“Hey Sarge, Doctor Fowler,” Detective Hofstadter greeted them. Amy watched with some amusement how the men shook hands and half-hugged each other.

_Were they acquaintances outside of work?_

Detective Hofstadter shook her hand too. Amy gave him a smile. Perhaps he was there because he and Detective Winkle had made some progress in the investigation. It was Friday. So much had happened in just a week.

Would Ricky even be alive still?

Sergeant Cooper carried both their bags to the car in the carpark. Or maybe it was Sheldon Tucker doing that. They had agreed to keep their covers up after all, although it wasn’t necessary with Detective Hofstadter there.

“Once we get to the precinct, I’ll have to debrief you, Sarge,” Detective Hofstadter said as he pulled onto the freeway. “Things don’t add up.”

The sergeant hummed. “You can disclose the information with Doctor Fowler here, Hofstadter. She’ll be kept in the loop either way. There’s no use in repeating everything to her later,” he said.

Detective Hofstadter looked at him quizzically for a split-second. “Alright,” he said. Amy felt a sort of warmth in her chest; they were including her in the investigation fully, it seemed.

“Well, while President Siebert has displayed some questionable behaviour overall; we can rule him out for being the one who broke into the lab,” Detective Hofstadter started.

“Tell me about that questionable behaviour,” Sergeant Cooper ordered.

“Just your typical cheating stuff; he spends at least one night a week at a hotel; and upon investigation it turns out he checks in with his secretary Samantha most of those times.”

Amy raised her eyebrows. Siebert and his secretary? Wasn’t she at least ten years older than he was? Perhaps she wasn’t supposed to be hearing this.

“And the other times?” Sergeant Cooper seemed unperturbed.

“Younger women mostly. Blondes. Wearing fishnet stockings, short dresses,” Detective Hofstadter trailed off. It was obvious what he meant to say.

“Prostitutes then,” Sergeant Cooper stated the obvious. “And his alibi for Friday checked out?”

“Yes,” Detective Hofstadter nodded. “As did his secretary’s.”

Amy wrinkled her nose. She had really no interest in knowing all this. She was losing respect for her boss rapidly like this.

“We’re still going to ask the both of them some follow-up questions,” Sergeant Cooper said after a while. “The university’s security is severely lacking. They should at least focus more on that, instead of their physical activities. Speaking of which; I’ll give you the details on two people in the medical research department we will be questioning next.”

“Okay,” Detective Hofstadter was driving them to the precinct. Amy was beat. She had wanted to go home and rest. He caught her eye in the rear-view mirror. “So, how was the conference?”

“It was okay,” Amy answered. “We were only there for a day, but the lectures were interesting to say the least.”

“The keynote speaker told us nothing new,” Sergeant Cooper corrected her. “And we attended a lecture on brain lesions that was based on sub-par research. I told the lecturer off, that was the most fun we had.”

Detective Hofstadter guffawed. “That poor man, hahaha!”

Amy blinked. Detective Hofstadter seemed to know more about the sergeant’s background. She was still wondering about that. Why would he be reading Neuron magazine for instance?

“I’m sorry you had to miss the rest of the conference, Doctor Fowler. Although, with Mr-Know-It-All as your chaperone, I can imagine you don’t mind it _too much_ ,” Detective Hofstadter laughed some more.

“Oh, it’s alright I guess. It did keep me distracted from worrying about Ricky too much. Since you haven’t mentioned him, I assume you have no news?” Amy asked.

“I’m sorry,” Detective Hofstadter just said. Amy sighed deeply.

“Is there anything I can do?” she asked. She wondered how long she would have to endure it; the nagging worry in the back of her brain, the uneasiness she had been starting to feel the second they touched down in LA. What if the criminal was watching her?

“We’ll discuss that in a bit,” Sergeant Cooper said. “That mind map of yours gave me some angles I want to investigate further.”

* * *

Penny greeted her like they were friends.

“Hey Amy!” she said enthusiastically. Before Amy knew what had happened, Penny had pulled her in a hug. “I’m soooo glad there’s a woman here in the precinct, I really need your help with something.”

“Actually, Penny, we were about to debrief our trip and discuss some angles on the investigation,” Sergeant Cooper said firmly.

“It will only take a few minutes, I’ll have her back to you in no time,” Penny said, and Amy was dragged to the girls’ bathroom. Penny shut the door behind her and crouched down to see if there were any occupants in the toilets.

“Okay, spill!” she said as she moved back up. Her eyes were sparkling.

“What?” Amy asked. She figured Penny might have been in need of a feminine hygiene product – what other reason would she have to talk to Amy this urgently?

“Oh, don’t you play innocent with me!” she said, laughing. “We’ve all been keeping up with the both of you in your hotel room with what we call _Shamy After Dark_.”

Amy’s heartrate quickened. “ _What?”_ she squeaked.

“Howard _Brangelina’ed_ your names; Sheldon, Amy... Shamy. It’s quite catchy. And well, we haven’t been able to listen to _all_ of it,” Penny elaborated. “For some reason a lot of your talks took place in the bathroom, but damn girl!! It was like listening to some erotic podcast.”

Amy felt the blood drain from her face. When they had found out that Siebert hadn’t been listening in, she had felt sort of relieved. They could just forget about the whole thing.

But she wasn’t going to be able to forget it like this.

“You were listening?” she asked – hoping against all odds that she would get a negative answer.

“Not all of us, just me and Leonard,” Penny said, waving her hand dismissively. “I mean, Sheldon must have told you he had a microphone transmitting to the precinct the entire time, right?”

He hadn’t.

But he had said something about letting Hofstadter know when they arrived at the hotel and when they left. Maybe it was a way to get a record of the things Siebert would have been able to hear too? Amy couldn’t believe this.

While she and the sergeant had been rolling around on the bed – literally – his colleagues had been sitting her listening to them make out like it was some sort of radio drama.

“It must have slipped his mind,” Amy muttered, pissed off to say the least.

“Never mind that,” Penny said excitedly. “You _have_ to tell me everything! I can’t believe you and the sarge were just making out in that hotel room in the guise of fooling your boss…. It’s like a trashy romance novel!”

Amy blushed. She had to admit, she had read fanfics with better plots.

“It wasn’t like that, it was purely professional,” she denied.

Penny smirked. “Maybe for you,” she said. “I’ve never seen Sheldon act like this with anyone. And I’ve known him for four years now, so I have seen some shit.”

Amy didn’t really know what to respond to this.

She shrugged. “I think you’re reading too much into this, sorry,” she said, and she tucked her hair behind her ears.

Penny’s eyes widened comically. Too late did she realise what Penny’s eyes were seeing.

“If I’m reading too much into this, then I’d really like to hear you explain how that hickey winded up in your neck,” Penny couldn’t stop grinning.

“Alright, I’ll get your number from Leonard. Let me take you out for drinks tonight, your ‘fake’ boyfriend is waiting for you,” Penny winked, and with that she walked out of the bathroom, leaving Amy with her thoughts a mess.

* * *

“What did Penny want that was so urgent?” Sergeant Cooper asked as she walked back out into the bullpen.

“Tampons,” Amy lied, not knowing how to go about this.

Sergeant Cooper narrowed his eyes at her disbelievingly. “No, she didn’t. Tell me later then.”

“Come, Detective Hofstadter and I discussed some ways we could go about investigating. We wanted to ask you some questions before we run the plan by the captain,” he held the door open to the briefing room where they had discussed the first plan as well.

Amy had immediate flashbacks.

“Would you like something to drink, Doctor Fowler?” Detective Hofstadter asked. He looked really innocent for a man who had listened to her moan while his superior officer kissed her in a hotel room.

“A coffee, please,” she said – she needed the energy. Detective Hofstadter was halfway out of the door when he turned around to ask her another question.

“Oh. How do you take it?”

“With half-and-half,” Sergeant Cooper said before she had a chance to answer, “and I’ll have a cup of tea, Leonard.”

Amy stared at him. Of course he remembered how she took her coffee, but that didn’t mean she needed him to answer for her. He had some nerve.

“What did Penny really want?” he asked, as soon as they were alone.

Amy crossed her arms. “I told you, she needed a tampon,” Amy said.

“No, she didn’t,” Sergeant Cooper said firmly. “Last week, I would have believed you, but not today. I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t lie to me?”

Amy scrunched up her nose. Why would he know so much about Penny’s menstruation? It was a bit weird. Wasn’t it?

“I don’t see why it’s a problem that I want to keep a conversation between me and someone else private. It’s not relevant to the investigation,” she huffed. “But I can see why that must upset you, seeing as you share everything with your colleagues.”

Sergeant Cooper looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Detective Hofstadter listening in on our conversations in the hotel room without me knowing,” Amy said tensely.

“Why would that be a problem?” Sergeant Cooper asked. “He is the secondary in this investigation. It is vital he knows as much as possible. That includes whatever information your boss would have picked up on from the microphones in the hotel.”

“But there weren’t any microphones!” Amy exclaimed. “Only the one _you_ planted there without me knowing! And because of that microphone your colleague and the captain’s assistant were able to gather ‘round together and spent their nights laughing at us playing lovers!”

Sergeant Cooper looked unamused.

“I’ll talk to Hofstadter. He knows better than to let civilians listen in on matters like this,” he muttered darkly. “No matter what else he might share with her.”

At that exact moment, Detective Hofstadter entered the briefing room, carrying a tray with steaming paper cups.

“Somehow you always manage to make others get the drinks,” he said jokingly as he walked in. His smile slipped from his face when he saw the angry looks on both their faces.

“Uh oh, did I interrupt a lovers’ spat?” he chuckled.

“We’ll talk later, Hofstadter,” Sergeant Cooper said angrily. “Let’s get down to business, so I can see Doctor Fowler home and we can all get some well-deserved rest.”

“O-kay,” Detective Hofstadter said. Amy gave him a half-smile when he handed her the coffee.

“Alright,” Sergeant Cooper barked. “So, President Siebert has an alibi and seems to have no motive. He cares too much about the university’s reputation to do anything of the sort. And while his earlier behaviour was very suspicious, the suspicions were due to his other questionable behaviour. The man has been having extra-marital affairs for years. We think it’s because of the possible reputation damage that he behaved so strangely.”

“Right,” Amy mumbled. “So, the whole ‘let’s-act-like-a-couple’-skit was just for Detective Hofstadter and Penny’s benefit then.”

Detective Hofstadter had the decency to blush and stammer.

“I-I didn’t mean to…” he muttered. “I mean, Penny was asking about you and I remember I could just listen in. If I had known what I would be plugging into I would have put in my earphones, I swear!”

Amy blushed.

“When you found out, why didn’t you anyway?” Sergeant Cooper hissed, and his neck was stained red.

Detective Hofstadter laughed. “Are you kidding me? The second Penny heard the both you go all ‘ _you know I can’t resist you’_ or something like that, she screamed so loud, my ears were still ringing an hour later!”

The red blotches in the sergeant’s neck got bigger. Amy felt extremely embarrassed.

“So yesterday she made me plug in again, and I tried to be resilient and not do it, but you know… Penny can be really… _persuasive_ ,” Detective Hofstadter grinned with the pride of a young boy who had gotten his first kiss.

Amy was ashamed how long it took her to realise what he was saying. But seriously, was everything just having sex with each other?

“While I like that you are always more tolerable after sexual intercourse, Leonard, this behaviour is unacceptable. You shouldn’t disclose details of any on-going investigation to a civilian. No matter how amusing it might be for her,” Sergeant Cooper said firmly. “I’ll discuss this with Gablehauser.”

“I suppose that’s fair,” Detective Hofstadter replied demurely.

Sergeant Cooper cleared his throat awkwardly. “Alright,” he said with a sense of finality. “We’ll go through the possible plans for the upcoming week.”

Amy nodded. She wondered what they had come up with.

“Since the Siebert-trail leads nowhere, we have to look at different angles,” Detective Hofstadter said. “Our main focus is going to be your place of work. We have seen no suspicious movements at your apartment; all we have seen is your neighbour coming in twice a day to feed the cat. We have no access to your mailbox – it’s under federal jurisdiction – so we’ll check that out with you when you go home later.”

Amy nodded. “Alright,” she said. “So what are you suggesting then? I just go to work like nothing has happened tomorrow?”

“Yes,” Detective Hofstadter said.

“But how will we continue to investigate then?” Amy asked.

“ _We_ will continue to investigate, Amy,” Sergeant Cooper interjected pointing at himself and Detective Hofstadter, “ _you_ will help us as much as possible. But you will not, and I cannot stress this enough, investigate on your own.”

Amy gaped at him. What had she done to deserve this kind of talking to?

“I just meant; how will the case be investigated when I’m just working like nothing has happened? To be honest, I don’t feel too comfortable knowing that we no further than we were last week,” Amy supplied.

“We _are_ further than we were last week; we have been able to eliminate one major suspect, and we have installed all kinds of surveillance equipment in both your home as well as your place of work. The criminal will mess up, and we _will_ catch him,” Sergeant Cooper said firmly.

“Alright,” Amy mumbled, unconvinced. She sighed deeply. “I’m just hoping we’ll have something by next week, so I can attend the banquet at Mrs Latham’s house.”

“What banquet?” Sergeant Cooper said.

“Oh, it’s nothing interesting,” Amy said dismissively. “It’s just this fundraiser thing. Lots of old, rich people will be there and the university expects us to kiss ass and get money for research.”

Both men looked at her.

“So, everyone who wants to step up their game will be there?” Detective Hofstadter asked.

“Uhm, yeah,” Amy said.

“Doctor Fowler,” Sergeant Cooper said, and it was the return of her title that made her look up at him.

“Yes?”

“Has it occurred to you that a banquet like that would be the ultimate opportunity to catch this criminal?” he asked. “And we have a week to prepare. This couldn’t be planned any better, in my opinion.”

**To be continued**


	15. The Empty Bed

**Chapter 14**

**The Empty Bed**

Amy had hoped that it wouldn’t come to this. But alas.

Detective Hofstadter drove them to her house, and Amy was inexplicably nervous. It was already half-way the afternoon now, and later she would have to go to bed. By herself. Well, maybe with Garfield at the foot of her bed. But it wasn’t the same as the last two nights when she had had her bodyguard with her.

And she didn’t really know what to think of Penny.

She needed to process the fact that she had heard her moan due to Sergeant Cooper’s kisses – and moan for real, not as an act. She had claimed tiredness and an upcoming headache when Penny approached her in the bullpen. It wasn’t even really a lie.

She was exhausted. And nervous. Really nervous. And on top of that; still somewhat aroused after two make-out sessions and a restless night filled with dirty dreams.

Sergeant Cooper carried their bags again, and Leonard drove off. The silence between the two men had been uncomfortable to say the least. Amy didn’t know if Sergeant Cooper was more angry at Detective Hofstadter for listening in on them, or for the fact that he had heard them at it like horny teenagers.

At least Sergeant Cooper came off looking alright. He had put a stop to it. Meanwhile, Amy looked like someone who jumped him at the first chance she got.

Amy walked over to her mailbox, and for some reason her hand stopped moving when she had her key poised in the air. _What if the criminal had sent her a letter?_

“Do you want me to do it?” Sergeant Cooper asked softly from close beside her.

Amy’s hand shook with tremors, and his warm fingers enclosed around her trembling ones.

“There’s nothing to be scared of, I’m here,” his voice calmed her down somewhat, but it only caused her to feel even more embarrassed about her inability _to get her mail._

“You have to give me permission, Amy,” he continued. “Hofstadter was right when he said the US mail falls under federal jurisdiction.”

“Would you get my mail, please?” Amy mumbled.

“Of course,” he answered. He took the key from her hand and opened the mailbox. He went through the envelopes.

“They all appear normal, no heavier paper or anything out of the ordinary. Pasadena library, a folder for UNICEF, water bill and Neuron magazine,” he said.

Amy sighed in relief.

“I don’t know why I was so scared,” she said softly.

“It’s understandable. If Leonard hadn’t said anything you would have been fine,” he mumbled. “That man really needs to learn to shut his mouth sometimes.”

Amy couldn’t help but laugh. It seemed like a strange thing to say – he wasn’t the most tactful person himself. Sergeant Cooper gave her a half-smile. Amy felt a strange sort of warmth in her chest. It made her avert her gaze quickly.

Her hands still shook a little when she opened the door. The door next to hers opened.

“Amy! I didn’t expect you back today,” Mrs Vartabedian from next door piped up.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have called. We came back a day early,” Amy smiled.

Mrs Vartabedian looked Sergeant Cooper over approvingly. “We?” she repeated with a knowing smile.

“Sheldon Tucker,” Sergeant Cooper held out his hand for her to shake.

“Nice to meet you,” Mrs Vartabedian said breathlessly.

Sergeant Cooper shot her a charming smile. “Thank you for looking after Garfield. You know how Amy gets when it comes to that fur ball.”

“Hey!” Amy said indignantly.

“I’m kidding, love,” Sergeant Cooper chuckled. He shot her neighbour a wink. “Come along, Amy. I was really looking forward to this time together.”

Amy blushed under the approving gaze her neighbour shot her. She quickly walked into her apartment, and Sergeant Cooper shut the door behind them. Garfield looked up from her spot on the couch at their entrance, but continued sleeping as if nothing had happened.

“The epitome of indifference, aren’t they?” Sergeant Cooper said.

“She’s just upset it’s me who’s home. I have no proof, but I think Mrs Vartabedian gives her treats. Garfield always looks slightly fuller after I’ve been away,” Amy said.

“We can check the footage, you know,” Sergeant Cooper smirked.

Amy smiled at him. She didn’t understand why he was here. Did he want to discuss something in regards to the investigation? They had had quite a lengthy talk with Detective Hofstadter. A plan on how to go about the fundraiser at Mrs Latham’s house had been formed. Including a follow-up plan for more physical combat training and another day at the shooting range.

Amy wondered what else Sergeant Cooper wanted to discuss with her. She kind of wanted him to leave, so she could nap or masturbate. Or both.

“No, that would be an invasion of Garfield’s privacy, I couldn’t do that to her,” Amy said, and she scratched Garfield under her chin. She purred instantly.

“So…” Amy said, awkwardly. “Thank you for seeing me home, I guess.”

Sergeant Cooper raised his eyebrows at her. “Are you trying to get me to leave?” he scoffed. “Tsk, tsk. Amy… how would it look to your neighbour if she heard me leave this soon? She’d think I was terrible at pleasing you sexually.”

Amy gawked at him. Was he kidding? Or teasing her? He was smirking again.

“Well,” she said. “You don’t _have_ to leave… But I am going to take a shower to get rid of the ickyness from the airplane, and then I’m going to take a well-deserved nap.” _And masturbate._

“Feel free to read up on the latest research,” she added, as she handed him the copy of Neuron magazine.

“I’d rather have the latest Applied Particle Physics Quarterly,” he replied quickly.

Amy shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t subscribe to physics magazines,” her words were apologetic, but her tone wasn’t. “You do whatever you want, I’ll be in the shower.”

She walked to her bedroom without a backwards glance.

* * *

The water had never felt this soothing on her skin before. It was a miracle she was still able to hold herself upright after the intense orgasm she had given herself while the shower warmed up.

It never took her long with the high power vibrator she had, but this had to be a new record.

The water had – hopefully – silenced the buzzing of the machine, and she was careful to be as quiet as possible. One could never be sure though. But even if the sergeant _had_ heard her, she couldn’t care less.

He _knew_ how he had turned her on in the airplane’s bathroom. And he had also heard her dirty dream about him. She had tried to get him to leave, and he wouldn’t budge. This was on him.

After finding out that Penny and Detective Hofstadter had listened in on their antics, the little dignity she still had in regards to her sexuality had disappeared completely. And boy, did it feel good to finally be able to let go. At last, the tension was gone. She hadn’t even realised she had been _this_ tense all that time.

She giggled softly when she thought about Sergeant Cooper. Wouldn’t he be tense as well? He had woken up erect two mornings in a row after all.

Unless…

Amy shut the water off and got out of the shower. Thinking about Sergeant Cooper masturbating while she was just feet away in the hotel room was getting her all hot and bothered again. She was still high on oxytocin and tingly from orgasming. The tiredness was really settling in now.

After wrapping herself in her robe, she quickly made way to her bedroom. She stepped into a pair of panties and pulled a camisole over her head. It was time to ask the sergeant to leave once and for all. She really had to take her nap now.

Sergeant Cooper was still sitting on her couch, and he was reading something on his phone.

“Ehm,” Amy said, unsure of how to address him. “I thought you would be leaving around now?”

She pulled her robe tighter around her body. His roving gaze felt almost like a caress.

“I just got a message from Gablehauser,” he said, stroking Garfield who had climbed in his lap. “He wants you prepped for any situation that we may encounter next week. Which basically means more training; shooting, self-defence, physical combat. But also some stealth exercises, and martial arts.”

Amy didn’t really like the sound of this. “Oh,” she mumbled as she took a seat next to him on the couch.

“I can see you’re not too enthused, but it really is in your best interest. Gablehauser is a firm believer of preparation, and I agree with him on this one. Especially after what happened with that man in San Francisco,” he gave her a pointed look. “If I hadn’t intervened, he would have hurt you. No matter how many people were watching.”

“You mean the man you almost got into a fight with had I not pulled you away?” Amy rebutted, crossing her arms.

Sergeant Cooper stared at her for a beat. “Yes, that one.”

Amy flashed back to a night before – had it only been just a night? – how she had crawled in his lap and he had pulled up her skirt to touch more of her; his calloused fingers on her bottom, the bulge between his legs pressing up against her…

“Well, I guess it can’t hurt to get some more practice in. I mean, this person took Ricky with him. Obviously he either drugged him, or has some skills to keep him under control,” Amy said. “I don’t know which of these worries me most.”

She nodded, more to herself than to him. “So I guess I’m in. When do we start?”

“Tonight,” Sergeant Cooper said.

Amy fell back against the back of the couch. “No!” she moaned pathetically. “I want to sleep. I’m so tired.”

“I’m sure you are after those… distressing dreams of yours,” Sergeant Cooper said snidely. “But I can’t go against my captain’s orders. He has cleared the gymnasium for you.”

“Maybe _I_ can go against your captain’s orders?” Amy asked, knowing it was useless. Captain Gablehauser was rather scary.

Sergeant Cooper just shot her a look.

“I’m no happier than you are with this,” he said, almost petulantly. “I was looking forward to a shower and sleeping as well. But we’re expected to be in the gym in a couple hours, I’ll never make it home in time to get just an hour of sleep.”

The most preposterous thought entered Amy’s mind. It was out of her mouth before she knew it.

“Well, you could just take a shower here and then after a nap we’ll eat something and go to the gym,” she sounded less sure of herself with every word she said.

Sergeant Cooper looked at her. His eyes were penetrating.

“Shower here?” he repeated.

Amy shrugged. “I have more than one towel,” she joked. He just stared at her.

“And where would I take this nap?” he continued.

Amy blushed. It was no big deal. They had already spent two nights together in the same bed. Her bed was only a tad smaller than the one they shared in the hotel.

“I could take the couch,” she said instead.

Sergeant Cooper huffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. People sleep in beds. My mother would kill me if she heard I let a lady take the couch while I took her bed.”

_Then why did he ask?_

“Alright, we’ll share my bed then. It’s nothing we haven’t done before,” she hoped she sounded sure of herself.

“You don’t mind?” Sergeant Cooper asked, his eyes narrowing.

“No, it’s fine,” Amy gave him an awkward smile. “Unless, you don’t want to?”

Sergeant Cooper gulped. “No, I would like to shower and to sleep,” he emphasized. “We just must be careful not to let the lines between our actual lives and undercover persona’s blur.”

He gave her a pointed look. Amy blushed some more.

“I’m just talking about a shower and a nap, officer,” Amy said. “But if you need a kiss goodnight to fall asleep, you can ask me nicely and I’ll think about it.”

She laughed at her own joke, but the sergeant just stared at her. It was taking too long. She got up from the couch and walked to her bedroom, without waiting for his answer.

“I’ll get you a towel,” she called over her shoulder.

Amy hung the towel on the towel rack in the bathroom and noticed just in time that she had left her vibrator out for him to find _again._ She quickly put it in the cabinet above the sink and closed it just in time.

She met Sergeant Cooper’s eye in the mirror. It was a little _too_ similar to her naughty dream.

“Here,” she indicated to the towel. “It’s recently laundered. And the shower works like any other shower does.” 

“Alright,” Sergeant Cooper said quietly.

“Well, enjoy,” Amy said quickly, before it became too uncomfortable. “I’ll just go to bed already. If I set the alarm for 6:00, we should be on time right?”

_It sounded as if she would be waiting in bed for him._

“We should be on time then, yes,” Sergeant Cooper mumbled. He appeared entirely uncomfortable.

“Okay, good,” Amy said breathlessly. “Well, bye.”

She rolled her eyes at herself as she closed the door behind her. What was _wrong_ with her? First, she basically coerced the sergeant to come sleep in her bed with her, and now she was practically pushing him into her shower.

It had really been too long since she had any action.

She flipped the covers of her bed back and hung her robe on a hook by the door. It was only when she caught her reflection in the mirror on her wardrobe did she realise she was wearing next to nothing. 

Amy had just opened the drawer of her dresser when the door to the bathroom opened. She looked up in surprise, and her mouth dropped open.

Sergeant Cooper stood before her, just holding the towel wrapped around his waist. Amy’s eyes roamed over his naked chest. Her whole body heated up in the process.

_Fuck._

“Yes?” she squeaked.

“I forgot my change of clothes,” he said. His eyes held hers, but hadn’t he once said that he had excellent peripheral vision?

“Oh!” Amy looked up from his chest quickly. “Do you need your bag?”

“I can get it myself,” he said.

“Sure,” Amy mumbled, and she looked back to her drawer. She needed more clothes to wear to bed. She could hear Sergeant Cooper walk back into the bathroom and he closed the door rather loudly.

Amy exhaled slowly. Inviting the sergeant to take a shower in her bathroom and then to take a nap in her bed turned out to be one of the most insane ideas she had ever had.

She pulled on a pair of jogging pants and climbed into bed. The soft cadence of Garfield’s paws landing on the mattress sounded, and Amy closed her eyes in fatigue. The combined sound of the Garfield’s purring at her feet as well as the rhythmic splatters of the running shower helped her doze off.

Amy couldn’t have been asleep long when she felt the mattress dip behind her.

Sergeant Cooper was climbing in next to her, but he was moving around carefully and he settled in much closer to her than she had expected him to. She could feel the heat coming off him.

Amy turned around; there wasn’t even a foot of room between them.

“There is enough room on the other side of the bed, sergeant,” Amy mumbled. _He_ had been the one to tell her to watch out that the lines between real-life and undercover!Amy wouldn’t blur.

“There would be,” he answered pointedly, “but Garfield is asleep at the foot of the bed. I’m afraid I’ll kick her off accidentally. I don’t want to wake her.”

Amy lifted herself a little, and he was right; Garfield lay curled up and fast asleep at the foot of the bed, making it impossible for the sergeant’s long legs to stretch out there. Instead he was laying in the centre of the bed, practically on her side.

Too tired to really do anything about it, Amy fell back down, her back to him and her head snuggled in the pillow. Ready to fall asleep again.

“Alright,” she mumbled. “It’s a poor excuse, officer. You’re lucky I’m too exhausted to do anything about it.”

Her eyes drooped closed again. It was actually kind of nice, to feel his presence this close to her. And it gave her a sort of warm feeling in her chest to see how fond he had become of Garfield.

She was almost asleep again, when she felt his hand on the dip in her waist. He pulled her around so she lay on her back, his hand moving over her belly in the process. Amy blinked languidly at him.

“How ‘bout that kiss goodnight?” he whispered lowly.

Her stomach constricted and her eyes opened fully. Sergeant Cooper gazed at her. His pupils were big – it was dark in her bedroom after all.

“Since you asked nicely,” she heard herself say. She was wide-awake now. _What were they doing?_

Amy leaned into him. She didn’t have to lean far before she could almost feel the faint exhales coming from his nose.

At the last moment, she veered right and planted a kiss on his cheek instead of his lips.

“Good night,” she whispered, pulling back from him.

His eyes were closed, and she could see him swallow thickly. He squeezed her side and opened his eyes. Amy’s heart palpitated.

“Sweet dreams,” he muttered.

He was leaning into her this time, and his lips brushed her cheek softly. The corners of their mouths touched. Amy’s breath caught in her throat.

She expected him to kiss her mouth, but he pulled back from her.

Sergeant Cooper held her gaze for a beat longer. Amy could only look back at him. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest and she was sure she was flushed as well. _What the hell was going on?_ The air around them felt almost electric with tension.

“Go to sleep,” he mumbled as he closed his eyes and settled into his pillow.

Amy exhaled slowly and deeply. Her thoughts were all over the place once again.

_Good God._ This man would be the death of her. She settled back into her pillow once more, facing him this time. It took her surprisingly little time before she fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

A rhythmic buzzing combined with a xylophone song woke her up. Amy scrunched her eyes closed. She didn’t want to wake up. She wished the annoying sounds would stop, because she had never been this comfortable in her life.

She felt warm, and nurtured. Enveloped in some sort of cocoon of warmth and comfort.

The cocoon moved with her, the place where her head rested shifted a little, and the steady drum that sounded under her ear picked up its pace a little. Something pulled her tighter into the warmth and the scent of talcum powder, and she was rolled around a little.

But the buzzing and the xylophone stopped.

Amy sighed contently into the soft cotton under her cheek. “Hmmm,” she hummed. Caresses moved over her back, and they half-massaged her side before coming to a halt above the swell of her ass.

“Five more minutes,” the low voice of Sergeant Cooper grumbled, and her pillow trembled along with the words.

Amy’s eyes shot open. This was no pillow. It was the sergeant’s chest. _Again_.

She tried not to freeze up but remain relaxed instead, but it was hard now that she knew just how they were sleeping once again.

On the other hand; what had she expected when she invited him into her bed? If she was completely honest with herself, she would have been disappointed to wake up with the both of them on their own side of the bed.

And he smelled so good.

And how had she never known just how good it felt to be held like this? Their legs were entangled, and his arms were holding her against him, as if he was afraid she would let go.

Like she wanted to.

She should really take some time to figure out what this meant; his current hold on her didn’t correspondent with his statements at all. But right now they needed to get up and get ready for another round of training.

Was it really necessary though? As long as she had Sergeant Cooper with her at all times, he could protect her, could he not?

The buzzing and the xylophone started up again.

Amy groaned softly. She was pulled against his firm chest again and rolled over so he could reach out and grab her phone from her nightstand. The alarm was turned off.

“Come on,” Sergeant Cooper said. “We should be getting ready.”

His voice sounded unperturbed. Amy looked up at him.

Only the slight blush on his face indicated he might not be as unperturbed as he pretended to be.

She hoped he wasn’t.

**To be continued**


	16. The Show-Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Features a panic attack due to gun violence.

**Chapter 15**

**The Show-Off**

Amy got dressed in her work-out gear, while the sergeant put on one of his Sheldon Tucker outfits. She looked at him quizzically.

“I thought we were going to do more physical combat?” Amy asked, putting on her sneakers. Neither one of them had mentioned their position when they woke up. And she wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up.

“We are,” Sergeant Cooper said. “I just didn’t bring any clothes to train in on this trip to Berkeley. But the department has some spare clothes at the gym, I should be fine.”

Amy drove them to the gymnasium, stopping at Big Boy to pick up their order of burgers and sodas. They ate in relative silence in the parking lot. It felt like another strange date like this. Eating together.

“So, Penny and Detective Hofstadter then?” she asked slyly, shooting him a glance.

Sergeant Cooper chewed pensively for a while. “The meat-to-bun ratio of these burgers is completely off, next time we’re getting burgers at the Cheesecake Factory,” he said.

Amy’s heart skipped a beat. _Next time?_

“And, please don’t get me started on Leonard and Penny,” he said tiredly. “I’ve been watching the two of them circle around each other for four years now, and frankly I wish they would just accept that it’s not going to work. Or decide to just get married and move in together, so I won’t be bothered with it any longer.”

“Why would you be bothered if they don’t move in together?” Amy asked, nonplussed.

Sergeant Cooper froze. He looked like he had said something he shouldn’t have. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I figured Penny might have told you this, but it seems she hasn’t,” he said.

“What?” Amy was more than just a little curious now.

“Penny lives in my apartment building. From the day she moved in across the hall from us, I’ve been witness to Leonard’s failed attempts at wooing her. And sometimes he doesn’t fail, and I lie awake at night listening to his abysmal lovemaking, despite my noise-cancelling headphones.”

“Do you and Detective Hofstadter live together?” Amy asked, surprised. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise.

“We don’t _live together,_ we’re roommates. We have an agreement, it’s quite professional,” Sergeant Cooper corrected her.

“Right. And you work together too? That’s a whole lot of time you spend together then,” Amy asked.

The sergeant shrugged. “Leonard and I don’t work cases together that often,” he said. “I’m not just a detective like he is; as a sergeant, I outrank him. It would be unwise for us to work too many cases together, with the power imbalance between us. Gablehauser only allows it because we can keep our work and private life separate.”

That explained the half-hug she had seen that afternoon at least, and the banter between the two of them on the phone while they stayed at the hotel.

“Hmm,” Amy hummed. “Is that how Penny ended up working for Gablehauser?”

Sergeant Cooper sighed dramatically. “Yes, it was Leonard’s attempt number 23 to try to get into her pants. She had quit her job at the Cheesecake Factory, and was in need of money. Leonard thought it’d be a _great idea_ to get her a job at the precinct.”

He sounded like a child who had been told Christmas was cancelled. Amy giggled.

“Well, I think it’s kind of sweet,” Amy said. “To have someone be so into you that they go to such lengths for you? That must be nice.”

Sergeant Cooper’s head swivelled around fast. He looked at her intensely.

“I guess,” he muttered.

The silence around them felt charged again. Amy looked away and crumbled up the paper that held her burger minutes before. “Well, I think I’m ready to shoot some targets,” she said. Someone needed to remind the both of them why they were there.

“Good,” Sergeant Cooper agreed. “You need all the practice you can get.”

* * *

They stopped at the front desk; a different woman from last time was seated there. She was blonde and skinny and Amy didn’t like the way she eyed the sergeant.

“I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw your name on the schedule for tonight, sarge,” she simpered.

It was the tone of voice women used when they flirted, and she wasn’t at all subtle about it. It made Amy kind of nauseous.

“I tend to avoid coming here at night, but I had no other choice today,” he said, completely dismissing her flirtations.

“Oh, but that’s when I usually work!” she pouted. “But I get it. You’re probably exhausted from all your hard work, aren’t you, sir?”

Amy felt uncomfortable. It was like she wasn’t there at all. Sergeant Cooper barely glanced at the woman.

“I prefer to spend my evenings with my girl, actually,” he said pointedly, and he grabbed Amy’s hand. Amy automatically took a step closer to the sergeant. “I’m teaching her to shoot today. Could we get four magazines for her Glock 17? It’s checked out.”

Amy looked at the sergeant, and she gave him a sweet smile. She tried to convey a message: _I know what you’re doing._

“I can’t wait,” Amy said softly, biting her lip as she looked at Sergeant Cooper. “Just the idea of watching you shoot a gun, is getting my motor running.”

Sergeant Cooper smirked at her. “Oh, you just wait, love,” he whispered.

The woman looked at Amy now, and she gave her a look that was none too friendly. Amy flashed her a most charming smile as she handed her ID to the woman.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to bring civilians here, Sergeant Cooper,” the woman said, giving Amy her ID back.

“Gablehauser signed off on this, but feel free to confirm with him, Ramona,” Sergeant Cooper said tiredly.

She was rendered speechless. Amy watched the girl, Ramona apparently, walk over to a cabinet behind her and collect the requested magazines for her gun. They were deposited rather hard on the counter.

“Well, have fun then,” she said, sounding like she didn’t mean it at all.

“Thank you,” Amy said, pretending like she didn’t notice the fake tone and the looks she was getting.

Sergeant Cooper pulled her with him towards the hallway. His hand let go of hers, and moved to the small of her back. It was a possessive gesture – as if their act just now hadn’t been enough already.

“Yes, this is Nowitzki calling for Gablehauser,” Amy heard Ramona said into the receiver just as they rounded a corner. The door fell shut behind them, and Amy was unable to hear the rest of her words.

Sergeant Cooper turned her around. His hand still rested on her waist.

“Thank you for playing along,” he said.

“No problem,” Amy answered. “Persistent ex?”

“She wishes,” Sergeant Cooper snorted. “She’s been trying to get me to go out with her for months. I’m ashamed to admit I avoid coming here when I know it’s her shift. But persistent, yes. Ex? No.”

Amy felt strangely relieved.

“Well, should you ever need to get rid of her again; you have my number,” she said. Sergeant Cooper looked at her strangely. Amy realised a second later that she made a sort of weird proposition.

“I’ll see you in the shooting range,” she said hurriedly, and made way to the women’s locker room.

* * *

Amy’s throat went dry at the sight of Sergeant Cooper in his department-issued work out gear. It wasn’t as if it was _that_ sexy, but something about seeing him in a dark blue shirt with the letters LAPD across the chest and _shorts_ that showed off his ass, left her breathless and trembling.

“Alright,” he said. “Let’s get on with the shooting practice again, shall we?”

Amy nodded. Her protective goggles were already in place, bugging her because she was wearing them over her regular glasses. She took her gun out and clicked the magazine in place. She needed to focus.

Sergeant Cooper had moved the target to halfway across the room like the last time.

Amy exhaled carefully.

“Widen your stance,” Sergeant Cooper said quietly behind her, and his hands grasped her hips as he stood behind her.

Amy froze. Was he standing behind her _already?_ It felt like the overused trope of men learning women how to play golf, or shoot pool. And it was _working._

She widened her legs anyway, and his hands squeezed her before they moved up to her arms.

“Do you remember how to point the gun?” he murmured.

Amy nodded. She aimed slightly higher, his hands hovered over her arms. “Good,” he mumbled.

After exhaling a final time, she pulled the trigger.

_BANG!_

The backfire caught her off guard again, and she fell against the sergeant’s solid chest. He grunted softly, but his hands were on her waist again to steady her.

“You hit the target, but you’re still off,” he said. “You want to watch me shoot again? Or will that _get your motor running_ too much?”

Amy narrowed his eyes at him. He was messing with her. His eyes sparkled.

“Is this the thanks I get for helping you out, _dear?_ ” Amy asked.

“Oh, I can thank you properly, if you want,” he answered, his voice low and seductive.

Amy’s heart skipped a beat. The last time he had mentioned _that,_ they had ended up rolling around, groping each other on a hotel bed. Yesterday. It seemed like forever ago, but he had to remember it with his eidetic memory.

“Maybe when I’m not holding a loaded gun?” she asked.

Her heart was almost bursting out of her chest. They were flirting again. And not just a little bit.

“You’re right, we should practice,” Sergeant Cooper said. He picked up his own gun and loaded it quickly. Even watching that was turning her on somewhat.

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

She jumped up when he fired his gun in quick succession.

“Come here,” he beckoned her over. He made her try again, and he corrected her stance from time to time. Amy did feel like she was improving. She glanced over at Sergeant Cooper to see if he thought so too.

“You’re getting better,” he answered her unasked question. “I think we can move on to shooting while moving.”

Amy did a double take. “What?” she asked. He had to be kidding.

Sergeant Cooper smirked. “There’s a laid-out parkour here,” he said. “You run from one way to the other, shooting the targets as you go. I hold the record of most perfect scores in a row.”

The last part was spoken quite smugly.

“You think I’m ready for that?” Amy asked, disbelievingly. She had managed to shoot a whole magazine of bullets without missing the target, but she was really inconsistent in shooting in the bull’s eye.

“You’re almost ready,” Sergeant Cooper shrugged. “Let me get you a vest to be safe.”

The bulletproof vest was bulky around her, and Sergeant Cooper pulled the straps on tight. He was wearing one himself. Amy worried that he didn’t have the faith in her abilities like he had made her think. Or he was just being cautious.

“I’ll go first,” he said, as he opened a door on the side of the range that Amy had somehow missed before.

Behind it was a sort of warzone. Mats lined the floor, and fake bushes and trees we scattered throughout the room. Amy could spot a few targets – shaped like humans – with bullet holes through them.

She swallowed away the bile in her throat.

Shooting at a round target and learning a new skill was all fun and games, but seeing these person-shaped targets covered with bullet holes was a rough awakening. She wasn’t learning to shoot a gun for fun, she was learning to shoot a gun so she was able to fire back in self-defence should she come in the situation that required that.

She didn’t want to anymore.

The clicks of Sergeant Cooper reloading his gun echoed around the room.

It was too much suddenly. Anxiety gripped around her heart. Her blood rushed in her ears.

“Prepare to be ama- -“ he fell silent when he saw the look on her face. The magazine fell out of his gun, and he shoved the gun in the waistband of his shorts as he quickly walked towards her.

Black spots appeared before her eyes. _Oxygen_. She needed it. It felt like she was suffocating.

“Amy,” Sergeant Cooper was in her face. His hands on her arms. “Look at me.”

Amy looked up. His light blue eyes were big and unblinking.

“Breathe with me,” he said. “In, two, three, four… Hold, two, three, four, five… Out, two, three, four –“

Amy was already gasping for her next breath. Sergeant Cooper didn’t let up. He kept guiding her, instructing her to keep breathing slowly and with focus.

Her heartrate slowed down. And her need for oxygen was almost back to normal, but she was trembling still. It was only when she blinked a few times that she realised Sergeant Cooper was holding her up by her arms. Her knees had almost given out.

“Alright?” he muttered. Amy shrugged.

“Come, we’ll call it a night,” he said firmly, and he practically carried her out of the room. His arm was tight around her waist, and Amy held onto his bulletproof vest with a death grip.

Somehow she ended up in the women’s locker-room, seated on a bench. Sergeant Cooper was on his haunches in front of her, taking off her protective goggles – messing up her glasses in doing so – before moving to her bulletproof vest. He loosened the straps, and Amy stiffened when the back of his fingers brushed against her breasts. 

Sergeant Cooper didn’t seem to notice; he was busy pulling it up and over her head.

Amy blinked at him. She was out of her hyperventilating state now, and embarrassment was settling in. Her face felt warm with the blood rushing to it. She opened her mouth to apologize for freaking out just now, but Sergeant Cooper was faster.

“I shouldn’t have brought you to the parkour,” he said softly. His hands were moving over her arms.

“You weren’t ready for that. I should have realised that the silhouettes might trigger you. I’m sorry,” he spoke at the same quiet tone.

Amy stared at him. He was apologizing to _her._ For some reason she was speechless. His right hand had moved from her arm over her shoulder and came to a halt in her neck. He was taking her pulse with his fingers in the small dent under the edge of her jaw.

“You seem to have calmed down, your heartrate is still high, though not as high as it was before at least,” he mumbled. His eyes implored her. “Talk to me, Amy.”

Amy swallowed thickly. He was way too close, practically cradling her face. She had reason to believe that was why her heartrate was elevated now.

“I-I think I’m alright,” she muttered. Her voice sounded strange to her ears though. Hoarse, low. Sultry.

“Do you need some water?” Sergeant Cooper asked. He was still holding her face. His other hand was on her thigh. Amy’s brain didn’t know how to cope with that.

“Yes, please,” she said, not at all thirsty but needing him to back off. His closeness was making her lose her mind.

He moved away from her and Amy heard a faucet run. He was back, seated next to her this time. Amy took the paper cup with water from him with a small smile.

Maybe she was thirstier than she expected. She downed the whole cup in just a few gulps. Sergeant Cooper took the cup from her and refilled it with more water.

He was holding his phone to his ear when he gave the cup of water back to her.

“Leonard, could you come to the gymnasium? I need a ride. And bring Penny, she can drive Amy’s car to her place,” he was silent for a minute. “Oh. I assumed you would be hanging out with her. Nevertheless, could you come? We’ll figure out what to do with that car tomorrow.”

Amy looked at him. Didn’t he have a licence? How incredibly inconvenient.

Sergeant Cooper sat down next to her again. “Leonard is on his way over,” he said. “You shouldn’t be driving in this state. We’ll drop you off at your apartment. We can figure out how to get your car back to you tomorrow.”

“Alright,” Amy mumbled. She was even more tired than she was that afternoon.

She slowly drank her water. They sat next to each other in silence. Amy tried to make sense of her thoughts. So much had happened in so little time. Was it only a day ago that she was crawling into the sergeant’s lap and kissing him like there was no tomorrow?

No wonder she was tired. Her head fell back against the wall behind her. She wasn’t in a comfortable position at all, but she could easily fall asleep like this.

Sergeant Cooper sighed deeply suddenly. “I’m sorry, Amy,” he said again.

She was awake instantly.

“No, it’s fine. I didn’t realise I would be triggered like this,” she whispered. “You couldn’t have known.”

“Yes, I could have. You told me you were once robbed at gunpoint, I should have taken that into account, instead of trying to impress you with my shooting abilities,” he sounded mad at himself.

Amy gaped at him. Did he even realise what he just said?

“I’m already pretty impressed by you, officer,” she said shyly. “There’s no need to show off.”

Sergeant Cooper was slightly red in the face as he looked back at her. “Good to know,” he mumbled.

He seemed to be leaning into her. Amy inhaled sharply. She didn’t dare to blink; it felt as if some sort of spell was cast around them. His eyes kept moving from her eyes to her lips and back. It was like he was trying to figure her out.

Amy didn’t think there was much to figure out. Wasn’t it obvious by now she was into him?

She was just about to close the distance between them, when Sergeant Cooper pulled away from her.

“Leonard,” he snapped, his phone to his ear again. Amy hadn’t even heard it go off.

She exhaled slowly. Maybe it was for the best. It was a really stupid idea to go kiss the sergeant when it wasn’t their undercover persona’s at work.

“We’re on our way out,” he said firmly. He was already loosening the straps of his own bulletproof vest and he dumped it next to Amy’s unceremoniously.

“Come,” he mumbled, and he pulled Amy up by her hand. She gathered her things while he powerwalked to the men’s locker-room to get his bag.

They walked past the reception desk without a word of goodbye to Ramona, but Sergeant Cooper was holding her against him again; his arm around her shoulders, Amy’s fingers held onto the waistband of his shorts.

“Goodnight!” Amy called out, thinking it rude to leave without saying goodbye.

“Bye,” Ramona sing-songed sarcastically.

Detective Hofstadter was waiting for them in the parking lot. “Evening,” he said, and he shot Sergeant Cooper a look. “Everything alright?”

“I just had a little scare when we were shooting, Sergeant Cooper thinks I can’t drive because of it,” Amy said to him. They were still half-tangled up together, and Detective Hofstadter was eyeing them curiously.

“I didn’t say you _can’t_ drive, I said you _shouldn’t_ drive, there’s a difference,” he corrected her. It wasn’t her imagination that he pulled her even closer against him. It was almost a hug.

Detective Hofstadter looked between the two of them. Amy imagined it was quite a sight.

“Come, we’ll take you home,” Detective Hofstadter said, his brow furrowed in confusion.

He wasn’t the only one.

**To be continued**


	17. The New Habit

**Chapter 16**

**The New Habit**

Sergeant Cooper insisted on walking her to her door. Amy opened it and he followed her inside without invitation. Garfield leapt up from the couch, and she circled the sergeant’s legs like she never got any attention from her actual owner.

Sergeant Cooper chuckled and crouched down to pet her. “Hello beautiful,” he said. Garfield practically clawed at him. He scratched her behind her ear. “You’re zazzy, aren’t you?”

Amy huffed. Garfield never acted that happy to see _her._

“Thanks for seeing me home,” she said.

Sergeant Cooper moved back up to his full height. “It’s no problem,” he said. Their eyes locked again. Was he thinking about their almost-kiss like she was?

“Will you be alright by yourself?”

Amy shrugged. “I’ve been living by myself for more than ten years, sergeant,” Amy said. “I can manage. And I won’t be completely alone; Garfield will be with me.”

“You can call the precinct with a push of a button, should you need to,” he reminded her. “You have my number as well?”

Amy nodded. She didn’t know what to make of this. Was he suggesting she call him should she be unable to sleep? That seemed awfully intimate. Even more than their two nights and one afternoon tangled up together.

“I do,” she answered. She laughed softly. “It’s going to be strange to wake up tomorrow without you wrapped around me; I’ve gotten used to it.”

She didn’t know why she said it. But someone had to address the elephant in the room, right? Amy chuckled awkwardly. He didn’t say anything; Sergeant Cooper just stared at her.

She really had to learn to keep her mouth shut sometimes; he had told her before they should be careful not to let the lines between their undercover personas and real-life blur. Then why was she addressing their unintentional cuddling? It seemed like a way to make the situation between them more uncomfortable then it already was.

“I should go,” he said after what felt like minutes of uncomfortable silence, “Leonard’s waiting downstairs.”

“Yeah, okay,” Amy mumbled, she looked away from him. She was blushing again.

He took a step closer to her, and his sudden close presence made her look up. “I’ll be here tomorrow to escort you to work,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll make some breakthroughs.”

Amy nodded. “Yes, fingers crossed.”

Sergeant Cooper was looking at her like he had done on the bench in the locker-room. Amy felt the warmth spread through her chest like a wildfire. Her lips parted automatically. His eyes roamed over her face like they had done before, from her eyes to her lips and back up again.

He leaned into her, and there was no unwanted telephone call interrupting them this time.

His lips pressed against hers; softly at first, but they became more determined the second Amy kissed him back timidly. She inhaled sharply, and her lips moved against his on autopilot. Tingles erupted in her stomach. She tentatively brushed her tongue against his lips, seeking entrance.

He pulled back from her. Amy could only gaze at him.

“I’ve gotten used to it; kissing you goodnight,” he said lowly.

“Sure,” Amy replied, her voice breathless. She swallowed thickly.

“Goodnight then,” she added.

“Sweet dreams,” he murmured. He turned around quickly and walked out the door without a backwards glance.

Amy stood there in the middle of her living room for some time; her heart beating fast and her mind replaying his kiss over and over again.

* * *

Sheldon Tucker picked her up in the morning. He was wearing a green t-shirt this time, with a circle bracketed by stripes on the top and the bottom. He leaned into her and kissed her cheek.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” he said when Amy gave him an awkward smile.

“Are you talking to me or the cat?” she said, only half-joking. She grabbed her bag and closed up behind her.

“To you, of course,” he answered, in a tone that made it clear there was never a question about that.

“Garfield loves you, you know,” Amy said. Maybe she was kind of pissed off just how easily the sergeant had wrapped her around his finger.

“She just takes after her owner,” he winked at her. Amy blushed.

She needed some more time to get into Girlfriend!Amy mode that morning. While sleeping alone had the advantage that she was able to masturbate without being afraid of being too loud, the advantages seemed to end there.

Somehow she had gotten used to sleeping next to him. After only two nights and an afternoon nap. Or maybe she wasn’t used to it, but she was craving it.

Especially after their kiss from the night before. That wasn’t Sheldon Tucker kissing her, and they both knew it.

Leonard was waiting for them outside of her apartment building. The three of them drove to the gymnasium, and Amy watched them in amusement as they discussed some science-fiction movie.

“Did you sleep well?” Sergeant Cooper asked as Amy drove away from the gymnasium.

“I slept alright,” Amy mumbled. “You?”

“I slept fine,” he answered softly. “I’ve been thinking about the investigation. I’m going to go over everything Hofstadter and Winkle have done so far. They documented their interviews and interrogations, so that should take me all morning. I’m almost sure they must have missed something. Usually a case like this takes a week or so.”

“Hmm,” Amy hummed. She was watching the road.

“And I wonder why your boss hasn’t contacted you yet. The hotel must have informed him or Samantha by now about the early check-out,” he continued. “I hope to run into him at your office.”

Amy glanced at him. “And then what? You can’t really question him when you’re in character, can you?”

“No, but I can judge his character; watch how he presents himself, how he responds to your distress, etcetera,” he explained.

“I guess,” Amy mumbled. “Are you looking into Ricky as well?”

She tried not to think about him. Every time she did, she welled up. It had been a week now. Ricky required a certain diet, and affection as well. She couldn’t imagine the kidnapper to give that to him.

“I put Detective Winkle on that,” Sergeant Cooper said. “I’ll ask her for an update too.”

Amy nodded. They had arrived at the university now, and she took a deep breath. She was in no mood to work, especially since she knew she would be watched the entire day as well. She checked her reflection in the rear-view mirror. She had some bags under her eyes, but the rims of her glasses blocked those.

“You look fine,” Sergeant Cooper said. “Come on.”

He was already out of the car and walking around it when she looked up. He opened her door for her. _Oh, right._ It was Girlfriend!Amy time.

It didn’t seem like either one of them was going to address the fact that they had kissed the night before. And it was obvious they would be kissing again in just a few minutes.

Was it a bad thing that she kind of hated it that it was the last day of the week? There was no reason for them to hang out in the weekend and play-pretend. Or maybe there was; they still needed to do more physical training after all.

He squeezed her hand as they walked into her building. “Let me correct my earlier statement, you don’t look fine,” he said. “You look _fine.”_

His tone and his eyes were leering. Amy felt her heart skip a beat. He was in full-on Sheldon Tucker mode.

“But I’m not wearing anything special,” Amy whispered.

Sergeant Cooper raised his eyebrows suggestively. “But you forget, I know what’s underneath that now.”

Amy felt her face heat up. He _had_ seen her in her underwear the day before. Was he referring to that? Or was he just playing the boyfriend?

She gave him a coy smile. “Going by that logic I’d look _fine_ every day,” she said, shaking her head at his lame attempts at flirting.

“Why, I guess you’re right,” he answered.

Amy looked at him. Was he complimenting her? She wasn’t sure. “Oh,” she mumbled.

Amy entered her passcode when they reached her lab. She held her breath when she entered – afraid that something would have changed or maybe another message was left behind by the criminal – but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

She let out an unsteady breath.

“You’re nervous,” Sergeant Cooper stated.

“I guess I am,” Amy whispered.

She was pulled into his arms; he held her firmly against his chest with one arm. His other hand caressed her side. “You’re safe here,” he mumbled into her hair. “Someone is always watching along, and Leonard and Leslie are still around the university. If something _does_ happen, they will be here in no time. Just remember that.”

Amy nodded into his chest. The smell of talcum powder flooded her senses. It was comforting. She didn’t even care that there were probably people watching them in the precinct.

She exhaled again. “I’m okay,” she said, and she pulled away from him slightly. She was unable to move far; his arm was still around her shoulders.

“Are you? I felt bad leaving you by yourself after what happened last night,” he said. Amy didn’t know who was talking now, but her money was on Sergeant Cooper instead of Sheldon Tucker.

“I’m a big girl, sarge,” she whispered. “I can handle this.”

He narrowed his eyes at her slightly. “Alright,” he answered. “I’ll be around anyway.”

She knew that, of course. But somehow hearing him say it, made her feel more at ease. She gave him a small smile.

A knock sounded at the door. Amy turned around, feeling caught doing something she shouldn’t have. President Siebert was standing in the doorway, a surprised look on his face.

“Doctor Fowler,” he said, walking into her lab. “I thought you would still be in San Francisco, but the hotel contacted my secretary about your early check-out. What happened?”

“President Siebert,” Amy greeted him. “Yes, I’m sorry, but I was unable to enjoy the conference like I should have. I keep thinking about Ricky – my missing monkey – and I was unable to focus on the lectures. I hope you don’t mind. We did have a good time the first day, very interesting speakers. My heart just wasn’t in it.”

President Siebert gave her an apologetic smile. “I imagine it’s been a lot for you to deal with,” he said gently.

If Amy didn’t already know he was an egotistical cheater, she would have believed him.

“It has,” she said.

Sergeant Cooper stepped towards him. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said, holding out his hand. “Sheldon Tucker. I wanted to thank you for allowing me to come with Amy to the conference, it was most interesting.”

“Ah, yes, the boyfriend,” Siebert said, shaking the sergeant’s hand firmly. “Are you a scientist as well?”

“Oh no,” Sergeant Cooper laughed. “I might have been one, but life got in the way and I ended up working with my brother instead. Didn’t make it less fascinating. And it’s always fun to see my girl light up when she talks about science.”

Amy blushed.

“Ha! Well, I’m glad you had some fun at least. Doctor Fowler, if we could speak to each other this afternoon? I think I have an opening at 3:00,” he said, turning to her.

Amy blinked. “Uhm, certainly, Sir,” Amy said. Sergeant Cooper narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Great,” Siebert said. “I’ll see you then. Good day, Doctor Fowler, Mister Tucker.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Sir,” Sergeant Cooper said, giving him a nod.

The door was left open, which made it impossible to discuss this. A lot of people still roamed the hallway. Amy could only communicate with her eyes. She gave the sergeant a look. _‘What the hell?’_ she mouthed.

He shook his head. _‘I’ll text you,’_ he mimicked. Amy nodded.

“I should get to work,” Amy said. The prospect of having another appointment with Siebert made her anxious. She wringed her hands together.

“Yes, me too,” he gave her a pointed look. “We’ll be in touch, just try to focus on your research.”

“Alright,” Amy said, nodding to herself. _She could do that. Right?_ She was totally anxious now, for some reason. Meeting Siebert again in his office. What could he want? And had the guys bugged his office yet? Or would she be wearing a wire again? The thought of Sergeant Cooper wiring her up again made her even more anxious – and aroused as well.

“Amy,” he pulled her out of her jumbled thoughts. “I’ll see you at lunch, okay?”

“Okay,” she repeated. Sergeant Cooper was looking at her imploringly. As if she needed not to panic. But seriously, what was there not to panic about?

She was pulled towards the sergeant by her hands, and the action made her snap out of it. One of his hands grasped her face and tilted her head up. “Calm down, babe,” he whispered so softly that she barely heard it.

And then his mouth was on hers.

Amy’s eyes fluttered shut; she should have been prepared for this, but he still caught her by surprise. She found her bearings quickly, and her mouth moved with his; open, hot, consuming.

She couldn’t stop herself from moaning. And pawing at him; her hands were on the lapels of his windbreaker, holding him close against her. He was holding her head close to his in return, and his other hand was on her bottom, pulling her against him.

Amy had a feeling they were both giving in to some pent-up frustration from the night before – at least, she was. He brushed his tongue against her lips, and she opened her mouth further meeting him halfway.

He groaned lowly in the back of his throat, and Amy’s panties practically flooded with arousal in response. She whimpered softly, pulling him flush against her. He squeezed her ass fleetingly before he pulled back.

Sergeant Cooper was staring at her; wide eyed and flushed. It just occurred to Amy that they had given quite a show to whoever was watching in the precinct. 

“As I said,” Sergeant Cooper cleared his throat, “I’ll come by for lunch.”

Amy swallowed thickly. “Alright,” she mumbled.

“Bye, babe,” he whispered and he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Amy watched him go. How she was ever going to be able to focus on work was a mystery to her.

* * *

Amy was busy studying some cultures under her microscope when Rajesh Koothrappali knocked on her door.

“Rajesh! Hey,” Amy was genuinely happy to see him. It felt like it had been days since she had seen an actual friendly face; not just the face of a police sergeant who was either acting friendly or actually friendly without her being sure about that.

“Amy!” he exclaimed, seemingly equally happy to see her.

Amy couldn’t help herself; she got up from her stool and walked over to Rajesh, pulling him in a quick hug.

“Hey!” he said, clearly surprised by her embrace.

“I’m sorry,” Amy said, pulling back. To her complete embarrassment, her eyes filled with tears. “I’ve just had the most awful week, and yours is the first friendly face I’ve seen in days.”

“Oh, come now,” Rajesh said, stroking her arm, “there’s nothing to be sorry about. I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through! But I can’t really be the first _friendly_ face you’ve seen… Didn’t you tell me that you were at this conference with your _boyfriend_?”

The insinuation was hard to miss. Amy chuckled.

“No, of course. Besides Sheldon, I mean,” she quickly corrected herself. “Everyone here has been bugging me with questions I can’t answer, and they are all too curious for their own good. And I just miss Ricky, you know…”

Rajesh rubbed her arm in a comforting manner. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through, Amy,” he said sympathetically. “And for what it’s worth; I missed you here at work.”

“Thank you,” Amy said with a slight smile. “Did you have to eat lunch by yourself now?”

“Oh,” Rajesh smiled down bashfully, “no, I actually had lunch with that girl I told you about – Emily? We’ve been seeing more of each other lately.”

“That’s so great, Rajesh!” Amy gave him a big smile; if there was one man who deserved romance, it was him.

“Anyway, I was here to see how you are,” Rajesh continued. “And maybe you wanted to have lunch today?”

“Oh!” Amy was actually disappointed to turn him down, “Well, I did watch _Notting Hill_ the other day, but Sheldon is coming by to for lunch later.”

Rajesh raised his eyebrows. “Will I get to meet the mysterious _Sheldon_ then?”

Amy laughed, and her blush wasn’t fake. It was more than just a little likely that Rajesh would be meeting him; Sergeant Cooper was probably listening along to their conversation now as well.

“Maybe not today,” Amy said. “He’s already met Siebert this morning, I don’t want to scare him off by meeting too many people in one day.”

She was surprised herself with how easily she was lying.

“Met Siebert? Why would he meet Siebert?” Rajesh asked, the confusion evident.

“Oh, he came by… I guess to check up on me after everything,” Amy shrugged.

Rajesh looked confused for a little bit. “Alright then,” he said after a while, “Well, in that case I gotta go call Emily and tell her that I have time for her after all today.”

Amy nodded weakly. All this lying was exhausting.

“Lunch next Tuesday, though?” Rajesh asked from the doorway.

“Oh, most definitely,” Amy said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

And she was. Lunch with Doctor Koothrappali while they gushed over romantic comedies directed by Richard Curtis seemed like something from a lifetime ago, while it had only been a week.

* * *

Sergeant Cooper came in around noon, carrying a paper bag along with his messenger’s bag. Amy didn’t register his entrance; she had been staring at a data set on her laptop for over 30 minutes. She had to adjust some formulas to get significant results, but somehow she wasn’t able to get the results she wanted.

It was frustrating to say the least.

“Hello,” Sergeant Cooper said from behind her. Amy jumped up.

“Oh! I didn’t hear you come in!” she exclaimed. “Sorry, I’ve just been so focussed… I can’t find the correct variable to apply to this list of rough data to get any kind of useful result. The blood levels are all off somehow, and I should put them in - -”

She stopped talking when she realised she was rambling; mainly because Sergeant Cooper gave her a bemused smile.

“Sorry,” she said again, shaking her head. She turned towards him. “I mean; hi.”

Amy grasped the lapels of his windbreaker and pulled herself up a little to kiss him. She pressed her lips to his, and Sergeant Cooper made a surprised sound in the back of his throat she didn’t understand. She was supposed to be Girlfriend!Amy, wasn’t she? He kissed her back, but barely and fleetingly. Amy pulled back from him, feeling somewhat rejected.

She looked at him quizzically.

“Uhm,” she said. “Is something wrong?”

Sergeant Cooper cleared his throat awkwardly. “No,” he said, “I just wasn’t expecting you to kiss me when there was no one to see us.”

Amy’s face heated up when she saw that the door to the hallway was closed. She hadn’t even bothered to look; he had left it open the last times he had been there. And somehow, kissing each other in greeting was what they did now, wasn’t it?

“We’re supposed to be in character at all times though, right?” she asked.

“Yes, we are,” Sergeant Cooper said firmly. “How are you, love?”

“Apart from the stupid equation I can’t figure out, I’m alright,” Amy said. “Doctor Koothrappali came by, it was nice to see him.”

Sergeant Cooper hummed. “I shouldn’t be jealous you’re hugging your male colleagues then?”

Of course he had been watching. Amy laughed. “No, you shouldn’t be.”

Sergeant Cooper had brought them sandwiches, and they ate in relative silence. “I brought a wire with me for your meeting this afternoon,” he said between bites, “Howard said they haven’t been able to put any surveillance in Siebert’s office yet. And this way, we can give you directions again.”

Amy nodded. Her earlier nerves came back a little; either from meeting Siebert of undressing for Sergeant Cooper again. “Okay,” she mumbled.

“You’ll do fine,” Sergeant Cooper said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Now, give me your laptop.”

He probably had to look something up. Amy handed her laptop to him, and continued eating in silence. Her mind was somewhere else. If she had known she would be undressing for Sergeant Cooper again, she would have worn a bra with padding instead of the one she was wearing now. She was pretty sure he’d be able to see her nipples through the thin fabric of this one.

Amy heard him type a little and click a few times, but she was more focussed on the clothes she was wearing under her blouse. There would be no hiding her nipples from him. Or maybe he wouldn’t look – as much.

“There,” Sergeant Cooper said, turning the laptop to her, “I adjusted the formula; you should remember to add in a variable for _alpha_ as well as _gamma,_ otherwise you won’t get the significant results you need to confirm or disprove the hypothesis there.”

Amy stared at him.

_What?_

He indicated to the excel sheet she had been staring at for the most of her morning. “Look,” he said, “I adjusted it, here… and here, as well. Now when you make a pivot table, you can plot the results of the different tests. See?”

“Yeah,” Amy mumbled, looking at her laptop. He had fixed her problem. _In minutes_. She had been staring at the document for hours.

She looked at the sergeant quizzically. “Explain to me again why you aren’t some hot shot theoretical physicist here at the university with your analytical abilities _and_ your eidetic memory?” she asked.

Sergeant Cooper’s eyes darkened, and not in a sensual way.

“I should be going,” he said instead of answering her. “I’ll lock the door. Get undressed, would you?”

**To be continued**


	18. The Skin Fixation

**Chapter 17**

**The Skin Fixation**

“I should be going,” he said instead of answering her. “I’ll lock the door. Get undressed, would you?”

Amy stared after him. _Why wouldn’t he answer her?_ She had a feeling there was a story there.

“Uhm, the cameras?” she asked, unbuttoning her cardigan anyway.

“Detective Winkle,” Sergeant Cooper said, looking at one of the corners of her lab. “The cameras can be turned off now. I’ll let you know when you can turn them back on.”

He was silent for a second. “I would advise you to keep your thoughts to yourself and follow the orders I give you, _detective,_ ” he hissed.

Amy couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed his earpiece _again._

Amy watched the sergeant grow a bit more flustered. She hadn’t expected Detective Winkle to be the one watching her right now, for some reason she associated the cameras with Wolowitz. But then again, during their stay in the hotel it had been Detective Hofstadter and Penny listening to them.

She guessed she hardly had any privacy for anyone at the precinct anymore.

“Thank you,” Sergeant Cooper said pointedly. “You can go ahead, Doctor Fowler.”

He hadn’t called her ‘Doctor Fowler’ in days. It hurt somehow, which was strange, because she wanted him to call her by her title when she first met him. But after a week of seeing each other every day, sleeping in the same bed, kissing each other… It was as if he was purposely reminding her of their actual relationship.

Or maybe he was just being overly polite because of something Detective Winkle had said.

They _had_ kissed the night before. Despite what he had said in the hotel room, when he had claimed not to be interested in her.

Amy shrugged out of her cardigan. Sergeant Cooper was pulling the wires and microphone from his messenger’s bag. Somehow she wanted to make sure she wasn’t making things up in her head; _he_ had kissed her, and he would have in the gymnasium as well, had Leonard not called him.

She was almost sure.

And maybe he had also checked her out when she was standing by her dresser in her underwear.

She was intentionally slow folding her cardigan. Sergeant Cooper looked up from his bag, his hands filled with the wires and the tape that had hurt like crazy when it was pulled off. He looked at her questioningly for a second.

Amy raised her eyebrows, and proceeded to unbutton her blouse slowly. She tried not to blink as she held his gaze steadily. Sergeant Cooper’s nostrils flared. Amy bit her lip, and stripped the blouse off her body.

She wasn’t wearing a top or a camisole under her blouse this time.

The temperature in the laboratory was always much lower than outside, her experiments would fail in the Californian heat. But it also caused her nipples to poke through the thin fabric of her bra.

“If I had known I’d be undressing for you again today, Sergeant, I would have worn something more conservative,” she said snidely. Just to humour Detective Winkle, and possibly Hofstadter as well. Amy was almost sure the whole precinct liked to listen in on her investigation.

“Oh, but I’ve seen so much of you already, Doctor Fowler,” he replied smoothly. “I thought we were well past having reservations about our bodies toward one another.”

Amy blushed, but she jutted her chest out a little. She wanted to see his gaze shift downwards, but he kept making eye contact with her. He walked over to her determinedly and unfazed. Amy vowed to herself to read up on seduction techniques, because she was failing greatly.

Sergeant Cooper moved to stand behind her, and Amy waited to feel his hand on the space between her shoulder blades. When she still hadn’t felt a thing after what felt like a minute, she glanced over her shoulder.

Sergeant Cooper’s gaze was heated and questioning.

He stretched out his hand, hanging the end of the wire over her shoulder like last time. He didn’t blink once, and Amy had trouble breathing.

It was unnecessary to stroke her spine with his hand as he positioned the wire on her back, but he did it anyway. Amy swallowed hard. She had put this on herself, she knew that. But she had not foreseen how the air around them would be charged with electricity.

It was also unnecessary to secure the piece of tape by pressing down on the tape on all sides, and caressing the surrounding skin in the process, but that didn’t stop him from doing so. He turned her around and his hand moved over her skin with the wire; across her ribcage and stopping between the cups of her bra.

He ripped off another piece of tape and proceeded to tape the wire to the skin under the little bow between her breasts. They were both looking at his hands. Sergeant Cooper grabbed the microphone from the table next to him.

He looked up at her, and Amy felt her face heat up from the intensity of this gaze. His one hand held the wire and the other held the microphone, and he moved both his hands to her chest. Amy held her breath.

His underarms brushed against her nipples, as he attached the microphone to the end of the wire. Amy gasped softly. It was really unnecessary to be attaching the mic to the wire this close to her body. His arms kept brushing against her breasts, across the hard tips of her nipples; barely, but it was enough to make a fire burn in her lower body.

Sergeant Cooper grabbed another piece of tape, and he glanced at her face fleetingly. This time, it was the side of his hand that grazed her breast as he moved his hand back up to apply the tape to her chest. Amy bit her lip, but couldn’t help but whimper a little.

“It _is_ rather cold in here, isn’t it?” he asked, as if they were having a normal conversation.

Amy stared at him. He was smirking slightly. Challenging her to talk back to him.

“I’m feeling rather warm, actually,” she said in the most neutral tone she could muster.

Sergeant Cooper pressed the sides of the tape to her skin; his underarms kept brushing against her breasts, and her nipples especially. Her arousal spiked; it coursed through her veins.

Amy held his gaze. It was a dangerous game they were playing, and they both knew it.

She was breathing shallowly. His fingers kept stroking the edges of the tape, and her skin as well. He was giving her that penetrating gaze once again, and Amy’s stomach fluttered.

“I think it’s secured properly now, officer,” she said, her breath hitched when one of her nipples was stimulated by his arm again.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Let me check,” he said. His left hand grabbed the part of the wire with the earpiece and pushed it into her ear carefully. His fingers fluttered over the shell of her ear. Amy had never known her _ears_ would be an erogenous zone, but it seemed everything was when Sergeant Cooper touched her. His right hand flipped a switch on the microphone.

“Detective Winkle, do you copy?” he said. His right hand hovered in the vicinity of her breasts still.

“ _Roger that, sarge_ ,” the raspy voice of Detective Winkle sounded in Amy’s ear. “ _Doctor Fowler_?”

Amy opened her mouth to answer, but her words died in her throat.

Sergeant Cooper lowered his hand to her chest, and his fingers danced over the outside of her bra. Amy whimpered quietly. He grasped her nipple between two fingers and tugged softly. Her mouth fell open.

“ _Doctor Fowler, do you copy_?” Detective Winkle sounded in her ear.

“Y-yes, I copy,” Amy said hurriedly. Sergeant Cooper pinched her again – Amy keened – before he removed his hand altogether.

“Let Doctor Fowler re-dress before you turn the cameras back on, Winkle,” Sergeant Cooper ordered.

He turned around and walked back over to his bag. Amy stared after him in shock. She shook her head – she had to put her clothes back on, and fast. This whole encounter had lasted way too long already, and Detective Winkle had listened to their conversation with rapt attention, Amy was sure.

She quickly put on her blouse and her cardigan. Amy checked her reflection in the reflective surface of the glass where that ominous message was once written. She looked okay enough – a little flushed, but nothing out of the ordinary.

“I’m decent, detective,” Amy said, moving her hair over her ear so the earpiece wasn’t visible.

“ _We’re running again_ ,” she replied in her ear.

Amy stared at Sergeant Cooper. He looked stoic and not at all affected by what just happened between them.

“I’m going,” he said. “I have some things to look into. I will be listening along when you meet Siebert.”

Amy nodded. _Right, the investigation._ “Alright,” Amy said, and she walked over to the door of the lab to open it for him.

“Thanks for lunch,” she said, holding the door open for him.

“My pleasure, love,” he said in his flirty-Sheldon-Tucker-voice. “I’ll see you tonight?”

Amy didn’t know if they had actual plans in the evening, or if this was just him playing the part for the handful of people in the hallway who could be picking up their conversation.

“Of course,” she replied, smiling at him.

“Good,” he grumbled, and he leaned down to kiss her. The electricity between them must still have been smouldering, because Amy’s lower belly caught fire the second their lips touched. She moaned softly into his kiss – uncaring to however might hear. His tongue brushed against her lips, and Amy pushed him away.

“Sheldon,” she giggled awkwardly, “I’m at work.”

He smirked. “You know I can’t resist you, babe,” he winked. “Bye.”

He turned around and walked away. He exuded confidence, even when she was unable to see the smug look on his face. He had fondled her breast. She needed to start thinking of a way to get back to him, and fast.

* * *

Amy walked over to Siebert’s office by herself. She had expected her thoughts to be occupied with whatever Siebert wanted to discuss with her, but all she could think about was the encounter between herself and Sergeant Cooper.

Her body was still high-strung with arousal. The nipple of her right breast felt tingly. Her panties felt sticky between her legs.

Seriously, who did this man think he was? Touching her like that in her office… She decided it didn’t matter how she had provoked him; that had been harmless and innocent flirting. _He_ had gone too far.

And she liked it.

Getting her head in order, Amy walked up the steps of the building that housed Siebert’s office.

“Hello,” she whispered. “Who are all listening in?”

“ _Hey Doctor Fowler_ ,” it was Detective Hofstadter. “ _It’s just me and Sheldon here_.”

Amy inhaled sharply at the mention of her pretend-boyfriend’s name. At least the audience wasn’t too big. She was somewhat nervous now after all. And now she had a case of performance anxiety as well.

“Alright,” she mumbled. She arrived at the front desk, where the president’s secretary(and apparently mistress) sat behind a computer.

“Hello,” Amy said. “I have a meeting with President Siebert at 3:00?”

“Hi,” Samantha said, her tone of voice was bored as she moved to make a call. “I’ll let him know you’re here.”

_“I wish we had a visual, I wonder what this secretary looks like,_ ” it was Leonard in her ear. _“Is she hot?”_

Amy tried to keep her face impassive. Because Samantha was _not_ hot. To each their own of course, but she wasn’t exactly what men would consider ‘hot’. But then again, neither was she. Although Sergeant Cooper made her feel just that.

_“Here’s her Caltech employee information,”_ Sergeant Cooper said in her ear.

_“Ugh, oh no,”_ Leonard exclaimed.

Amy bit her lip to keep from laughing. Samantha looked at her. “You can go in,” she said pointedly.

Amy nodded in thanks, and entered the office. President Siebert appeared to be pouring himself a drink.

“Ah, Doctor Fowler,” he greeted her as if they hung out more often. “Care for a brandy?”

“Uhm, no thank you, I have to drive later,” Amy said. _Plus, it is three in the afternoon,_ she added in her head.

“I figured you might like to unwind a little after the week you’ve had,” President Siebert said.

“It has been quite the week, yes,” Amy replied, taking a seat opposite him. “But I have been taking measures to unwind a little already.”

Someone cleared his throat in her ear. She wondered if it was Sergeant Cooper, who may or may not have heard her masturbate in her bathroom the day before.

“Good,” Siebert said, giving her a smile. “We saw each other this morning, of course. But tell me, how was the conference?”

“Oh,” Amy said, he just wanted to know about the conference. She could do this. “Well, as I said before; the speakers I did see, were quite entertaining. Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to go. I do hope that my earlier departure doesn’t diminish my chances of going to a different conference in the future.”

The president’s smile didn’t meet his eyes. “Maybe I’ll think twice about sending you to a multi-day conference when you’ve had a traumatic experience,” he said.

Amy gave him a hesitant smile.

“Speaking of which,” Siebert said. He took a contemplative sip of his drink.

_“Here we go,_ ” Detective Hofstadter said in her ear.

“Yes?” Amy asked. Siebert seemed to swirl the drink around in his mouth, like people did at wine tastings. It was a rather disgusting sight.

“I’ve had a few conversations with some of LA’s finest,” Siebert said after making quite a show of swallowing his sip of alcohol. “You’ve met them, I assume? Detectives Wrinkle and Hofstadter?”

Both men snorted with laughter in her ear.

“It’s Detective _Winkle,_ not Wrinkle,” Amy corrected him. It was typical for a man like Siebert to get the female detective’s name wrong.

He waved his hand dismissively. “You’ve met them then,” he confirmed. “You may be interested to know they tried to blame me on this attack on your person.”

Amy’s heart picked up its pace. “Sir?” she asked.

“Yes! Can you believe it?” he asked – as if she had agreed with him. “Apparently, the security around the university is lacking, in their opinion. While this attack was _clearly_ a personal one, not one against the university. So you agree? It’s preposterous to put the blame on me, isn’t it?”

“Well,” Amy said, “it’s still unclear who is behind this, so I don’t think you can claim this is a personal attack or not. But I have to agree with the detectives; if there were more security measures in place, this may not have happened, and Ricky would be safe and sound.”

Her voice caught as she choked up a little.

“Yes, well,” Siebert said. “If no one was out to hurt you, the monkey would be safe and sound as well.”

Amy glared at him. Her anger was growing fast. She could feel her face heat up with suppressed rage.

“ _Breathe, Amy,”_ it was Sergeant Cooper this time.

He was right. She inhaled carefully. Her heartrate lowered a little.

“What was it you wanted to talk to me about, sir?” she asked, keeping her voice as neutral as possible.

Siebert flushed. “I wanted to ask you if you have resolved any feuds you might have, I don’t need this reprimand from the LAPD, or the bad publicity this might cause.”

“ _He’s completely out of line. Don’t answer this,”_ Detective Hofstadter said. _“Find a way to leave.”_

“I’ve been told by the detectives working the case not to talk about anything to others,” Amy said snippily.

“Alright, then don’t say anything,” Siebert said.

“Was there anything else, sir?” Amy asked, halfway out of her chair already.

“No, you may leave,” Siebert was already more focussed on his drink then her.

“Thank you,” Amy said, and she walked away with her head held high. Once she was outside of the building, her earlier anger returned. Just who did this man think he was?

“ _You did great, Doctor Fowler,”_ Detective Hofstadter said in her earpiece.

“Thanks,” Amy muttered. She was pissed off. “What a dick.”

_“Well, that was a waste of time,”_ it was Sergeant Cooper this time. _“Doctor Fowler, inform me when you’re done for the day. We have some matters to discuss.”_

Amy blinked. Why hadn’t he mentioned that earlier when they had lunch – among other things?

“I could close off now,” she said. “I’m not in the mood to do any more work after that. And since my boss is already drinking on the job, I think I’m allowed to leave early.”

* * *

Amy walked across campus with her bag slung over her shoulder. She was kind of regretting declining that drink at Siebert’s. She would have liked a buzz right now.

Sergeant Cooper was waiting by her car in the parking lot, he was leaning against the side. She could spot him easily. She was still wearing her wire, and it was strange to be able to talk to him already like this.

“So, what are we discussing?” she asked.

“ _I’m sorry, Doctor Fowler?”_ it was Detective Winkle who answered instead of Sergeant Cooper.

“Oh!” she said, embarrassed. “I meant to talk to Sergeant Cooper.”

“ _His earpiece is turned off, you’re just talking to me here_ ,” Detective Winkle said, and Amy was sure she could hear a sort of judgemental or at least suggestive tone in her voice.

“Oh, right,” Amy mumbled. “Well, I’ve almost reached him anyway. Ehm… have a good weekend, detective.”

“ _You too, Doctor Fowler_ ,” She was definitely suggestive now. “ _I can’t turn the wire off for you, you have to turn the switch on the mic. It’s easy enough, but I’m sure Sergeant Cooper is willing to help you with that._ ”

Amy laughed awkwardly.

The parking lot was somewhat quiet, but Amy spotted Doctor Kibbler at the other side of the parking lot. He had definitely seen them. Amy sighed. She had hoped to avoid kissing Sergeant Cooper in greeting for a change; especially since Detective Winkle was still listening to her.

Doctor Kibbler waved awkwardly. “Hey Amy!” he called out.

“Bert!” she called back, waving in return. She hoped he would get in his car and drive away, but he appeared to be inclining to walk towards her.

Amy wasn’t in the mood for anything, but talking to Bert was the last thing she wanted. Bert spotted the sergeant as well, and he ended up waving a final time. Amy chuckled. Sergeant Cooper had obviously scared him off when they met.

“Hey, you,” she said as she walked up to Sergeant Cooper. He looked up at her.

“Hello,” he greeted her.

Detective Winkle was still listening in, and for some reason she felt more uncomfortable than when it was just Detective Hofstadter. Amy stood on tip-toe and gave him a chaste peck on his lips.

“I’m still wearing that wire,” she said softly as she pulled away. It was almost as if she was making excuses for not giving him a more thorough kiss in greeting. It was preposterous.

“Hm,” Sergeant Cooper said. “Well, this is a little too public to turn off that microphone, let alone take off the wire. Come on, I’ll help you in the car.”

“ _Told you,_ ” Detective Winkle chuckled in her ear. Amy chose not to answer.

Amy got in the driver’s seat and started to unbutton her cardigan. Halfway, she switched to her blouse. Her breasts were practically spilling out already, when Sergeant Cooper leaned into her.

His fingers ripped the piece of tape from her chest in one quick move. Amy hissed in pain. Sergeant Cooper flipped the switch of the microphone.

“There,” he said. “Now Detective Winkle won’t be listening in on every conversation we have.”

“ _Fuck_!” Amy muttered under her breath. Her hand pressed on her chest, her skin felt like it was on fire. Of course it was; hadn’t Sergeant Cooper made sure the microphone was more than properly secured to her skin?

“Sorry,” Sergeant Cooper mumbled. “It would have hurt more if I did it slowly.”

“It didn’t burn like this the other time,” Amy said accusingly. “It’s your fault, you know. You’re the one who practically fused the thing to my skin earlier.”

His fingers closed around her wrist softly, and he pulled her hand away. “Let me see,” he muttered.

Amy looked down, the skin between her breasts was red and felt prickly. No, not just prickly. It burned, like a chafing.

“That does look painful,” the sergeant said. His eyes flickered up to hers. There was a sparkle in them.

“Need me to kiss it better?”

**To be continued**


	19. The Guest Review

**Chapter 18**

**The Guest Review**

“Need me to kiss it better?”

Amy’s mouth fell open. Her stomach constricted. “ _What_?” she whispered. She must have misheard him.

“It’s the best cure for a boo-boo or an ouchie, my Meemaw always said,” Sergeant Cooper continued softly. He leaned forward, and Amy held her breath.

He pressed a soft kiss to the sensitive skin. And another.

Amy didn’t dare move. She sat frozen in her seat, staring at the top of Sergeant Cooper’s head as he pressed kisses to the skin between her breasts. The tingles moved from where his lips touched to her abdomen. He pulled back, and his hands moved to the buttons of her blouse. Amy exhaled shakily while he dressed her.

“There,” he said. “That should cure it.”

“Thanks,” Amy mumbled. She was at loss at what else to say.

Sergeant Cooper sat back in his chair and buckled up. Amy was still a little shaken up, but followed suit. It was only when she put her key in the ignition that she realised she didn’t even know where she was supposed to go.

“Ehm… are we going somewhere?” she asked.

“Your apartment is fine for now,” Sergeant Cooper said. “Maybe we’ll go somewhere tonight, but that’s for later.”

“Alright,” Amy said. She drove off, and glanced at Sergeant Cooper fleetingly. “So, what did you want to discuss? Did you find out anything when you went through the recorded interviews?”

He sighed deeply.

“Hofstadter and Winkle were very thorough, they questioned almost everyone in the building,” he said. “I wasn’t able to find anything suspicious or odd – at least not in regards to you or your work. It’s frustrating to say the least. Especially now that Siebert is a dead link as well.”

“Right,” Amy mumbled. She had a feeling that every day without Ricky diminished the chances of finding him alive. “So, what are we doing tonight then?”

“We are going over your mind map,” he said. “There must be something we’ve missed. It’s driving me crazy.”

Amy drove on. “But you said we’d go somewhere later?”

“That depends,” he said. “We need to go over your physical training as well, but maybe it’s better to that tomorrow when you’re better rested.”

Amy’s stomach filled with dread at the thought of being in close proximity to him again. She wouldn’t be able to handle that today. Not after the nipple action and the kisses.

“I’d rather not do that tonight,” Amy said. “I don’t think I’m up for it.”

“Understandable, but not really an excuse,” Sergeant Cooper said. “If I’ve learned anything from working in the force for more than fifteen years, it’s that crime happens when it’s most inconvenient.”

“Well,” Amy said, “it’s a good thing you’re with me all the time then. You can fight the criminals off.”

They had arrived at her apartment now. Amy walked to her mailbox and automatically opened it. She was shifting through her mail as she walked over to Sergeant Cooper by the elevator. There was nothing out of the ordinary in her mail. She was almost hoping there would be a ransom note or something in her mailbox. The fact that she had Sergeant Cooper as her personal bodyguard for now was a little reassuring, but the entire day she walked around with a nagging feeling in her gut.

Someone was out to hurt her. And she still didn’t know who.

Garfield was happy to see her, but probably because she brought Sergeant Cooper with her. He was already crouched down to pet her.

“Do I need to leave the two of you alone?” Amy said, semi-joking.

“Don’t mind her,” Sergeant Cooper said to Garfield. “She’s just a little tired after everything.”

Amy narrowed her eyes at the spectacle. She had no energy for this. The wire was still attached to her, and the tape bothered her.

“I’m going to get this wire off,” she said, and walked over to her bedroom. She sighed deeply. She wouldn’t be able to get used to having him in her house like this. She had already lost count of how many times he had been there.

Amy shrugged out of her cardigan and blouse and stared at the red patch between her breasts. She couldn’t believe the sergeant’s head had been _there_ ; kissing her. It was insane. And yet…

If she were really dating him, the gesture could have been considered sweet or affectionate – or arousing. But they weren’t really dating. She should keep that in mind; no matter how good Sergeant Cooper was in this undercover work, it was all an act.

She was probably not the first woman he had played Sheldon Tucker for. Somehow, that thought made her jealous.

Amy pulled the wire free from her body, hissing in the process. It really stung, but not as bad as the piece Sergeant Cooper had pulled free. She took off her bra as well; fat load of good that thing had been.

When she got back to the living room, Sergeant Cooper had taken a seat on her couch, and he was scrolling through his phone while he petted Garfield, who was curled up in his lap. He looked her over.

“Slipped into something a little more comfortable, did we?” he said.

Amy raised an eyebrow at him. So she was wearing sweats. She was too tired for this. “Yes,” she said, “here’s your wire back.”

“No, keep it,” he said. “We’ll never know when you might need to wear it again. This Tuesday for instance, when you’re having lunch with Doctor Koothrappali.”

Amy was in her kitchen, grabbing some lemonade for the both of them. “With Rajesh?” she asked.

“Thank you,” Sergeant Cooper said as she handed him the glass. “And yes.”

“I really don’t think he’s suspicious,” Amy said. “I mean, you listened to our conversation today, didn’t you?”

“I did,” he said. “And I need to know more about him. You mentioned he interviewed you once, do you have a copy of that?”

“Ehm, yes, I think so,” Amy said. She walked over to her bookcase and pulled out a the binder where she kept the copies of Caltech Magazine. It took her a while to find it, but she eventually handed it over to him.

Sergeant Cooper busied himself looking through the magazine.

“So, ehm… I could order pizza then?” Amy suggested.

“Graziano’s, please,” Sergeant Cooper mumbled, focussed on the magazine.

“Is that a type of pizza?” Amy asked. She usually ordered _margherita_ but, who could keep up with the types of pizza’s these days?

Sergeant Cooper gave her a look. “No, it’s the place I want you to order from. They know my order.”

Amy raised her eyebrows. He was peculiar, but she had her preferences as well. She googled the place, and hoped that they would even deliver in her part of town.

“Buena sera, Graziano’s,” someone with an obviously fake Italian accent answered the call.

“Uhm, hi, this is Amy Fowler,” she mumbled. “I’d like to order two pizza’s. Do you deliver in Glendale?”

“We do. What can I get you?”

Amy glanced at the sergeant. He was deep into her interview now, and Amy cringed at the picture they used of her; in her white lab coat, holding an actual goose feather and an old-looking scroll of paper. It looked even worse than she remembered.

“One _margherita_ , and one… uhm,” she halted. Sergeant Cooper didn’t seem to pay attention to her. “The usual order Sheldon Cooper gets?”

The man chuckled. “Are you sure? It’s not Thursday,” he said.

“I’m sure?”

“Alright, one _margherita_ and the sarge’s pizza, got it,” the man said. “So, not to 2311 Los Robles then? Give me your address, dear.” 

Amy hung up after giving her address. “Pizza will be here in 45 minutes,” she said, finally catching the sergeant’s attention.

“Good,” he said. “Now, about this interview. I notice he doesn’t mention the fanfiction at all. Why is that?”

Amy blushed. She had hoped he would have forgotten she let that particular part slip. “I didn’t talk about that, so there was no way he would put in it the interview,” Amy muttered.

“Hmm,” Sergeant Cooper seemed to think. “I looked through the comments you receive on those fanfictions, to see if there are people there that exhibit stalker behaviour… Some of those people are relentless in demanding updates. But overall none of them are leaving too creepy messages.”

Amy felt the blood drain from her face.

“How did you find me?” she mumbled. She used a handle. It was fairly anonymous.

“Please, Amy,” he huffed. “I’m a detective with the LAPD. It’s my job to find these sort of things, _LittleHouseLover0314.”_

Amy felt the blood drain from her face; she was scared. If he had read her work, he would seriously think she had some sort of sex obsession. Or in the very least assume she was extremely horny – which was the absolute truth.

Sergeant Cooper noticed her white face. “I didn’t read the stories,” he said. “ _Yet_. Those reviews spoke volumes; apparently your sex scenes are incredibly hot and people need to take cold showers after reading them?”

The blood rushed back to her face. She had received reviews like this. Months ago. How far had he gone back with his search?

“I was intrigued, I must admit,” Sergeant Cooper said, with a slight grin on his face, “I thought _Little House on the Prairie_ was a family show, focussing on life in the 1800s? Where would these hot sex scenes happen exactly?”

“There’s a time traveller from the future who travels back in time to warn them about World Wars I and II. He hooks up with a grown-up Laura Ingalls,” Amy mumbled.

Sergeant Cooper nodded. “Right,” he said. “Well, apparently people seem to love it.”

Amy shrugged. This was more than just a bit awkward.

“I would like to see some of those sonnets and other poetry you’ve written, if that’s alright?” he asked.

“Why?” Amy asked. It was all quite personal, and it was as if she was handing her diary to the sergeant.

“I’m curious,” he simply said. “I figured you wouldn’t mind. You mentioned before you gave some of them to Doctor Koothrappali, after all.”

He was right, of course. She had given some of her poems to Rajesh. Somehow giving them to Sergeant Cooper felt different; like she was exposing herself.

Although, was there a way she could be exposing herself even more than she already had? He knew practically everything about her already: the inside of her apartment, the products she kept in her shower, the way she looked first thing in the morning, the way she moaned when he touched her…

“Let me get my iPad, it’s easier to read them there,” she said quickly, before her thoughts drifted too far off. She moved to her bedroom to fetch it the device. Sergeant Cooper smiled in thanks, and set off to read.

Amy busied herself cleaning up a little – she hadn’t done a load of laundry in a week and things were starting to pile up. She started a load of laundry in the laundry room and when she got back, Sergeant Cooper was talking to the delivery boy of the pizza place.

“I was surprised to see your order on a Friday, sarge,” the boy said.

“I was busy yesterday, otherwise you would have seen me then,” he smiled. “But I’m very much looking forward to having my pizza right now.”

“Whose place is this then? You seein’ anyone?” the boy glanced inside her apartment.

Amy cleared her throat from behind them. The boy looked around, and he eyed Amy appreciatively.

“Hmm… Not what I expected to be your type, but I get it, sarge,” the boy grinned.

Amy flushed. She was dressed for a night on the couch, bra-less and big sweatshirt that covered most of her body, and yet this boy leered at her like she was wearing something sexy. Sergeant Cooper noticed.

“Back off, Tony,” he said firmly.

The boy smiled apologetically. “Sorry, sir,” he laughed. “Don’t go arresting me now for appreciating a beautiful female.”

“I’ll find another reason to bring you in,” Sergeant Cooper said, giving him a look. “Here’s your tip, now go.”

The boy, Tony, laughed at the sergeant. He was smiling too. “Ma’am,” the boy gave her a wink. “Maybe be a little extra nice to the sarge tonight, he seems tense.”

Amy raised her eyebrows, now that he was closer she could see the boy was no older than 16 or 17. She couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Oh, believe me, I’m _always_ extra nice to the sergeant,” she said suggestively, and she grabbed Sergeant Cooper’s hand, intertwining their fingers.

“Damn, sarge!” Tony exclaimed, looking at them with a combination of awe and jealousy. “Maybe I should join the force too.”

“Maybe,” Sergeant Cooper said. “You have more potential, though. Stay in school, okay?”

Tony nodded at him, and turned to leave. “Bye!” he called.

“Bye, Tony,” Amy said, smiling. Sergeant Cooper tugged her by their joined hands inside her apartment.

“He is the owner’s son,” Sergeant Cooper said unprompted, “Leonard and I worked a case last year; someone tried to burn the pizza place down. We solved it, of course. Since then, his father goes out of his way to repay us.”

“Are these free pizza’s then?” Amy asked – the combined smell of melted cheese and garlic entered her nostrils and she was drooling already.

“No, I insist on paying. But Anthony Sr. makes the pepperoni pizza exactly how I like it; extra mozzarella, no oregano, fennel sausage instead of regular salami, and garlic oil on the crust.”

Amy grinned. “Can I have a slice?” she asked.

Sergeant Cooper gave her a surprised look. “I never share my food, but alright,” he said. “Only because it does feel like I’m imposing on your time, hanging out here all the time.”

“It’s the captain’s orders though, isn’t it?” Amy asked.

Sergeant Cooper cleared his throat. “Right.”

Amy stared at him. Was it not by the captain’s orders that he was here? The possibility that he was with her because he _wanted_ to, confused her. She decided not to press it any further.

“Here you go,” he handed her a slice.

“Thanks,” Amy said. His pizza was even more delicious than the one she was having. Amy took another bite and moaned around it. “This is good.”

“I know,” Sergeant Cooper said. “That’s why I order it.”

Amy chuckled. They ate in silence, but it was comfortable, like they did this more often. “So, who tried to burn the pizza place down?” Amy asked.

“A rivalling pizza place,” Sergeant Cooper answered. “They delivered in the same area. Things got heated between them, literally. Leonard and I managed to solve it rather quickly though, and we’ve been regulars at Graziano’s ever since. Tony needs to stay in school, but he isn’t challenged enough. I’ve given him some of my old physics books; he has a real knack for understanding particle physics. I hope to see him go to college one day.”

Amy took a careful bite of her pizza. This was the second time today the subject of science came up. She was more than a bit curious about his background.

“That’s nice,” she said, instead of questioning him about what she was really curious about. “He seems like a good kid.”

Sergeant Cooper looked up. “He is. When he’s not leering at you, that is.”

Amy smiled. He seemed possessive. She liked it.

They finished eating and Amy realised she was ready to call it a night. The whole week had been trying to say the least. Had it only been a week since she met him? It felt like months.

“My laundry is done by now,” Amy said, “I should go put it in the dryer before it grows mouldy.”

Sergeant Cooper nodded. “Yes,” he said, getting up from the table. “We can go to the gym again tomorrow. You were making progress shooting, and it’s best to try it again after a scare. If you wait too long, it will only become harder."

Amy’s stomach sank. “I’d rather do the physical combat,” she muttered.

“We’ll do that too,” Sergeant Cooper said. “I’ll teach you to punch this time.”

“Yay,” Amy mumbled sarcastically. She was already not looking forward to tomorrow.

“It’s for your own safety, Amy,” Sergeant Cooper said seriously. “I can’t be around you all the time.”

“I know,” Amy answered.

They took the elevator down together, Amy with her laundry basket and Sergeant Cooper with windbreaker and his bag. “Tomorrow at 10:00 then?” he asked.

“Yeah, alright,” Amy replied, avoiding his eyes. All this talk about shooting practice and physical combat seriously diminished her good mood. Up until now, their evening had felt like a date somehow. It was a rude awakening. Maybe she needed sleep. What a day this had been.

“Okay,” Sergeant Cooper nodded. “I’ll see you then.”

“Right,” Amy mumbled.

Sergeant Cooper lifted her chin, and Amy blinked up at him. He was close again, and her stomach swooped with butterflies.

“I had a good time tonight,” he said softly. Amy swallowed thickly.

“Me too,” she whispered.

Sergeant Cooper gave her a small smile. He leaned in closer to her. “Good,” he muttered. “Good night.”

He kissed her. Amy’s eyes fluttered shut, and she kissed him back timidly. Her stomach was doing summersaults, and if she hadn’t been holding her laundry basket, she would have taken hold of him. Sergeant Cooper deepened the kiss, and his hand moved from her chin to the back of her head. He held her close to him, and his fingers moved over her scalp. It caused tingles to go down her spine.

Amy parted her lips, and he met her tongue with his between their mouths. Amy moaned softly, afraid to break whatever was going on between them. Her arousal built rapidly, it coursed through her veins like a wildfire. Her tongue moved against his, sensually and intensely, and she realised she could spend her days doing this and never grow tired of it. Of the sensual feelings it gave her, of the tenseness it caused her, of the combined nervousness and anticipation she experienced.

Sergeant Cooper pulled away from her. He cleared his throat. “Sweet dreams, Amy,” he mumbled.

“You too,” she whispered, and her voice sounded hoarse and sultry. Sergeant Cooper’s eyes darkened.

He stared at her for another beat, before he turned around and walked away.

Amy breathed out deeply. Their ‘I’m-used-to-kissing-you-goodnight’-kisses were escalating, and not just a little bit.

* * *

She didn’t know how long she had been tossing and turning in bed, but she couldn’t get to sleep. Her heightened state of arousal was gone now, thanks to a quick and intense session with her faithful pink friend, but still sleep eluded her.

Her phone buzzed on her nightstand. Her heart skipped a beat, maybe it was Sergeant Cooper, texting her. She quickly grabbed her phone, anticipation and nerves getting the best of her.

It was just an e-mail notification.

Slightly disappointed, Amy unlocked her phone. It was from the fanfiction website, someone left a review on one of her stories. A sort of warmth spread through her; reviews were mostly nice. She opened it.

_LittleHouseLover0314,_

_A new review has been posted to your story._

_Story: Body Heat  
Chapter 1_

* * *

_From: S.C. (Guest)_

_I had to see if all your readers had a point in praising your writing so. They do. Your writing is well-paced and your vivid descriptions cause actual physiological responses. I assume that is the point of this. Reading this has made me more aroused than I was earlier tonight, and that is saying something._

* * *

_Do not reply to this e-mail._

Amy’s arousal returned ten-fold. With shaking fingers, she tapped her phone a few times. The line rang. Once, twice. She almost chickened out and hung up, but he was faster.

“Hello?” his voice sounded rough and Amy’s stomach tied itself in knots.

“Hi,” she whispered. She breathed in and out slowly. “Thanks for the review.”

She really didn’t know what else to say.

Sergeant Cooper chuckled drily. “Let’s skip the chitchat, shall we. Are you calling just to thank me for writing a review? Or was there something else you wanted?”

**To be continued**


	20. The Midnight Conversation

**Chapter 19**

**The Midnight Conversation**

Sergeant Cooper chuckled drily. “Let’s skip the chitchat, shall we. Are you calling just to thank me for writing a review? Or was there something else you wanted?”

Amy didn’t really know why she had called. She had just been hoping he would text her, and instead he left her a message telling her how he got aroused from reading her pornographic stories. And he had read _Body Heat_ , her most raunchy work. There was hardly any plot there.

“I uhm… I wondered what particular part you enjoyed most?” she cringed as she asked it.

Sergeant Cooper hummed in her ear. “Hm, let me think,” he said, his voice sounded different. Lower, raspier.

“That fellatio scene was very ehm… riveting. And _detailed_ ,” he said. “That Faisal must have been very happy when you did that.”

Amy’s stomach constricted. She hadn’t done that to Faisal. He had wanted her to, but she chickened out. Was Sergeant Cooper able to tell she had no hands-on experience in this? 

“It makes me wonder though,” Sergeant Cooper continued. “If your goal is to turn people on with your writing, what state are you in when you’re writing it?”

Amy shifted in her bed. His tone was suggestive and it was obvious what he meant. She wondered if it was smart to have a conversation like this, though.

“What do you mean?” she asked, pretending to be clueless to what he asked her.

Sergeant Cooper exhaled softly. “I want to know if it aroused you, to write a dirty story about an innocent girl learning to suck dick like a pro? Did it make you wet, imagining that?”

Amy gasped softly.

“I think it did,” Sergeant Cooper murmured. He exhaled deeply.

Amy had gotten extremely tense, incredibly fast. What were they doing? This was surpassing all the professional boundaries between them, and not just a little bit. Their kisses today had been too much already, especially those he had pressed to her chest, but _this._ This was another level of advancing.

“It might have,” Amy whispered.

“Might have, sure,” Sergeant Cooper groaned lowly. “You don’t fool me, Amy… Your sexual history might suggest otherwise, but I’m absolutely sure you love everything about it.”

Sergeant Cooper was breathing deeply as he spoke. Amy swallowed thickly. The way he was breathing suggested that he was touching himself as he spoke to her, and that thought caused her own arousal to increase.

“Are you now?” she asked timidly.

“Yes,” Sergeant Cooper hissed. “Did you forget the dirty dream you had while lying next to me then? Because it’s all I’ve been thinking about these last few days.”

Amy gasped. “What,” she mumbled.

“ _Please, officer?”_ he asked. Amy’s stomach dropped. He had heard her.

“That could have been about anyone,” Amy whispered, but her face was hot and her voice trembled.

“But wasn’t, was it?” he asked. “What was I doing to you in your dream, Amy?”

Amy bit her lip. Did he realise how much he was turning her on with the way he was talking to her? She didn’t know if she could answer him. And on the off-chance she did manage to answer him, she wasn’t sure if she could be honest with him.

It was one thing to admit being turned on by reading porn, it was another to share her dirty dreams with the man they had been about.

She exhaled shakily. She tried to think of something else to tell him; that she had had a nightmare, not a sex dream, but her mind was unable to conjure up a plausible scenario.

“You…” she started, “you had to cuff me…”

Her voice broke off. The dream was hazy in her head, all she really remembered was that; he had her handcuffed and begging for him.

Sergeant Cooper groaned in her ear. “ _Fuck_ , Amy,” he grumbled. “I knew it. You’re such a dirty girl. I can’t wait to find out what other kinks you have. Although these stories of yours probably give those away…”

Amy squirmed in her bed. Her breathing had increased, and she was incredibly aroused by just listening to Sergeant Cooper talking dirty to her. She had to get the attention away from her, she was being entirely too open with him. It wasn’t fair; not when he knew practically everything about her, and she knew next to nothing about him.

“What have you been thinking about these last few days then, _officer_?” Amy asked, and she couldn’t resist caressing her breast softly. She was almost sure that he was touching himself as well.

He groaned in her ear again. “You,” he answered simply.

“Me, what?” Amy asked, and her breath hitched when she brushed across her nipple fleetingly.

“Come on, Amy, you must know,” he muttered, panting in her ear. “You’ve felt it, what you do to me. Do you think I wake up hard every morning?”

_Apparently not._

“And if that wasn’t enough, I take every excuse I can think of to kiss you,” he admitted, “but you _let_ me. So, I have to believe you don’t mind me kissing you.”

“I don’t,” Amy whispered.

“Good,” he grumbled. “Did you mind me touching you this afternoon? Because you can’t expect me to keep my hands to myself when your nipples are begging me to touch them.”

Amy mewled quietly.

“Are you wet right now, Amy?” Sergeant Cooper mumbled softly. “Touch yourself for me.”

Amy gasped again. Her fingers closed around her nipple like he had done that afternoon, and she keened.

“What are you doing? Tell me,” Sergeant Cooper said urgently.

“P-pinching my nipple,” she whispered. He groaned in response.

“I should have known, you’re moaning like you did this afternoon,” he grumbled. Amy moaned softly in response. “You’re so hot, Amy… It’s a miracle neither one of us has been hurt yet, I’ve been distracted for days.”

His words made her tremble.

“You have?” she repeated quietly.

Sergeant Cooper made a sort of confirmative moan. “And now after reading this pornography spun from your mind… I’m hard as a rock, Amy,” he muttered. Amy’s stomach swooped. He exhaled deeply. “Tell me you’re wet for me.”

Amy bit her lip, but moved her hand down from her breast to the waistband of her panties. She couldn’t believe she was doing this; touching herself while on the phone with him. But she _was_ incredibly aroused and if she was honest with herself she wanted to, too.

“Sheldon,” she mumbled, somewhat embarrassed still. Her fingers slipped inside her underwear.

“Yes,” he breathed. Amy exhaled slowly and moved her fingers lower; they glided through the hot wetness easily.

“OH!” Amy exhaled in surprise. She mewled as her fingers brushed over her clit. “I-I… I’m really wet right now.”

“ _Fuck!_ ” Sergeant Cooper groaned. “How do you like it, Amy? Do you just rub your clit ‘till you come? Or do you fuck yourself with that vibrator of yours?”

He was scandalous in his questioning – and his tone was not unlike he had used when he had interrogated her a week ago. She was ashamed to say it got her even more in the mood than she already was.

“That depends,” she whispered, somehow encouraged by his soft groans and breathless questions, “what do you want me to do?”

Sergeant Cooper panted in her ear. “You vixen,” he hissed. “I’ve been jerking off for the entirety of this conversation, so if you want to come with me you’d better do what gets you off the fastest.”

Amy chuckled breathlessly. Her index finger was rubbing her clit with firm circles, the amount of wetness almost too much for her to get a good amount of friction, but she managed.

“Nnnngh...” she whimpered. “Oh, _officer…_ ”

Sergeant Cooper moaned deeply. “Jesus Christ, Amy. If you end up sleeping next to me one more time I won’t be able to keep myself in check…”

Amy moaned. She was rapidly approaching orgasm with the combination of it all; the words he spoke to her, the friction she was creating, the illicitness of it all.

“What would you do then?” she breathed.

“I’d make you scream my name, using my tongue… And then I’d see if your actual oral skills live up to how you wrote them,” he muttered darkly. “And while I’d love to come to in that sweet little mouth of yours, I really want to bend you over any flat surface available and pound into you. Hard. Rough.”

Amy mewled. She was almost there.

“You’d like that, won’t you?” he was panting.

“ _Yes,_ ” Amy breathed. She was barely holding on.

“I want to hear you scream my name…” he muttered.

Amy bit her lip, her arousal was reaching dangerous heights. “Sheldon…” she moaned.

“Yessss….” Sergeant Cooper hissed. “Aahhh... I’m coming, Amy…”

Amy gasped for breath as her own orgasm tore through her; stars burst behind her eyes, and her back arched on its own accord as wave after wave of pure bliss washed over her. She probably made some embarrassing moans as she came, but she could hear the sergeant groan deeply in her ear as well, and it somehow prolonged her release to hear him mumble “ _Yes, come for me, Amy.”_.

Her body still shook with tiny spasms as she caught her breath. Sergeant Cooper was breathing deeply in her ear, as he too seemed to be coming down from a high.

Amy pulled her hand from her panties and felt the anguish wash over her. She had just had _phone sex_ with Sergeant Cooper. She swallowed uncomfortably. This was bad. Really bad.

It was one thing to be kissing each other under the pretence of keeping their cover up, or because they fooled themselves in having gotten used to it, or whatever excuse they used nowadays, but _this…_ This was taking a step much, much further.

Sergeant Cooper exhaled deeply on the other end of the line.

“Amy,” he muttered.

“Yeah?”

He cleared his throat. “Perhaps… perhaps we should forget this happened.”

Amy’s heart constricted in her chest, but she knew he made a valid point. They still had a job to finish – to find out who was out to harm her. They were unnecessarily complicating the investigation like this.

“I think that’s best, yes,” she mumbled. She swallowed away a lump in her throat. “Night, sarge.”

“Sweet dreams.”

* * *

Amy woke up surprisingly well rested. She guessed coming incredibly hard to Sergeant Cooper talking dirty to her had that effect on her.

Her phone rang. Amy checked the screen, it was Sergeant Cooper. Amy checked the time; it was 8:00 in the morning. Their appointment at the gym wasn’t until two hours later. Was he calling about the night before? Her heart skipped a beat.

“Hello?” she answered.

She could hear sirens going off on the other side of the line. They were loud. People were talking rapidly in the background.

“Amy, I won’t be able to make it to the gym today. Something came up,” Sergeant Cooper spoke quickly. “Do _not_ leave your house. Do you copy?”

“Is it something to do with my case?” she asked, worried now. Sergeant Cooper seemed to be rushing off somewhere, and the realisation that he could be in danger made her nervous.

“Not yours, no,” he said. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to contact you again, but it’s essential you don’t go anywhere. We won’t be able to guarantee your safety today, with the amount of people needed for this operation.”

Amy swallowed thickly.

She didn’t know why, but somehow the realisation that Sergeant Cooper’s work could be really dangerous at times suddenly came to her.

“I’ll stay at home,” she muttered.

“Good,” Sergeant Cooper said.

“Sarge, we’re closing in on ‘em now,” Detective Hofstadter’s urgent voice interrupted them.

“I got to go,” Sergeant Cooper said.

“Be safe,” Amy called out, but she already heard the dial tone in her ear. She fell back into her bed, wondering if he had heard her. Her stomach was tied in knots the rest of the day.

* * *

After a shower and some dry toast for breakfast – she had to eat _something –_ she turned on the local news, trying to find out what kind of urgent matter Sergeant Cooper and his colleagues had to tend to.

The news gave her nothing, and the internet only reported crimes from the night before.

She was getting restless, waiting around for news that wasn’t forthcoming.

When she had done about everything she could think of; shaving her legs, painting her toe nails, vacuuming, deep-cleaning the kitchen, she had had enough. She grabbed her phone and pulled Garfield into her lap and waited for an answer at the other side of the line.

“LAPD, 73rd precinct,” a female operator answered.

“Hi,” Amy mumbled. “Sorry, is this Penny?”

“Yes?”

“Hi,” Amy sighed in relief. “It’s Amy Farrah Fowler. We’ve met the other day?”

“Ooh! Amy, hi!” Penny sounded once again like they were old friends. Amy had to assume she made a sort of point; Penny _had_ listened in on private conversations and more between her and Sergeant Cooper. “How are you?”

“I’m alright,” Amy said. “You?”

“Well, I’m working on a Saturday in a mostly empty precinct, so I could be better,” Penny laughed. “Did you need to speak to one of the detectives? Sheldon isn’t in.”

“I know,” Amy said, and for a split-second she wondered if she should have kept her mouth shut. “He called me to cancel our appointment this morning. I’ve been kind of worried to be honest.”

“Wow,” Penny said.

Amy cringed. She _had_ overstepped. “Sorry to bother you, this line probably has to stay open, I’ll leave you be.”

“No! We have multiple lines here, silly. We can chat for a while, it’s fine,” Penny reassured her. “Can I be honest? I’ve been involved with Leonard for about four years now – with some breaks here and there, and I still worry when he has to go on one of these wild chases. I mean, these guys are like bad, bad guys. Wanted for murder, extortion, drug dealing… It’s so scary.”

Amy’s blood ran cold.

“Yes, it is scary,” she said softly. They were both silent for a bit.

“You wanna come over and hang out till the guys come back?” Penny asked.

“I would, actually,” Amy answered truthfully. She was going insane at home, wondering about Sergeant Cooper and the others. Maybe at the precinct she would be able to get her mind of things. At least she would be closer to a source of information. “I can’t though, Sergeant Cooper told me to stay at home today.”

Penny blew a raspberry. “Pfft, why though? I thought they issued you a gun? What’s going to happen, seriously? You can just take your car over here, it should be fine.”

Amy pondered for a second. She _had_ been issued a gun. And it wasn’t as if she had police men tailing her on the other days, right? Before she really knew what she was agreeing to, she had already grabbed the gun from the cabinet were she kept it.

“Let me just get my bag, I’ll see you in a bit.”

* * *

Amy walked into the precinct, feeling a little out of place.

Penny was filing her nails behind a desk, and she waved Amy over enthusiastically. There was hardly anyone there, and Amy hoped that was because of the fact that it was Saturday, not because everyone was busy trying to catch a band of criminals. 

“Hey, Penny,” Amy said in greeting.

“Hi!” Penny replied, overly bubbly. Her enthusiasm was contagious. “I’m actually so glad you came by, because waiting for them to come back by myself is soooo boring.”

Amy chuckled. “I’m glad to help then.”

“So,” Penny raised her eyebrows suggestively. “What were you and Sheldon supposed to be doing today?”

Amy blushed. _Sheldon._ She never called him that in her head. But she had moaned his name just hours before, because he had wanted her to. Her body responded to the memory immediately. She shifted in her seat, trying to eliminate the sudden tenseness in her nether regions.

“We were going to go to the gym,” Amy said. “Practice shooting, physical combat, that sort of thing.”

Penny smirked. “Physical combat, is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

Amy’s blush intensified.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she murmured.

“Ha!” Penny laughed. “Sure, try to act like nothing is going on between the two of you. I’ve listened to you making out in a hotel room, remember?”

“That was for the microphones,” Amy said, but it sounded like a weak excuse to her own ears as well.

“Keep telling yourself that, honey,” Penny winked at her. “And those kisses at your place? They are for the microphones as well?”

Amy gaped at her. Penny grinned.

“I knew it,” she smirked. “I knew you were kissing behind closed doors as well. I took a shot here, but after seeing the two of you make out like horny teenagers yesterday morning, I knew there had to be more going on.”

“Who else was watching?” Amy asked, her stomach filled with dread.

“Oh, just me and Bernadette,” Penny waved her hand dismissively. “They have the cameras running only in case some shows up and they need to examine the footage. Usually no one watches, but I got access and sometimes I’m bored here.”

“And Bernadette is Wolowitz’ wife, correct?” Amy asked. Now even people she had never met before were watching her. She felt like the star of a reality show more and more.

“I’m sorry,” Penny said, cringing a little. “You must feel like we invaded your privacy like this, but I swear we’re only watching because it’s so much fun to tease Sheldon with this.”

Amy furrowed her brow. She wondered just what exactly they were teasing Sheldon with. That he had to spend all his time with her? That he had to kiss her? Was _she_ the thing they teased him with?

“Right,” Amy said.

“I mean,” Penny continued, “Sheldon has spent the last four years complaining to Leonard about his relationship with me; we were kissing too much in his presence, he could hear us having sex, he didn’t like seeing me at breakfast, yada, yada…. But now. Now, I get to tease him with this crush he has on you!”

“I don’t think Sergeant Cooper has a crush on me,” Amy mumbled. But as she said it, she questioned herself. He _had_ kissed her when they weren’t in character, and just last night he had initiated _phone sex_ … He did admit to wanting her, sexually. But did that mean he was into her?

Somehow, it seemed unlikely.

He was probably just aroused from reading her fic. And the lines between them were blurring, that was all. The idea that actual feelings were involved here was a little too far out.

“So,” Amy said – desperate for a change of subject, “What is it you usually do here on a Saturday?”

“I’ve been digitising the cases from September through November from last year,” Penny said, scrunching her nose. “It’s really boring work.”

“Let me help you,” Amy said. “Together we could get it done much faster.”

* * *

Amy didn’t know how long they had been working on the digital filing system – she had seen more pictures of bloody crime scenes she had ever hoped to see – but time was passing by faster at least.

She and Penny were on their second coffee break of the afternoon, when the precinct phone rang.

“LAPD, 73rd precinct,” Penny answered. “Oh my God, Leonard!! Are you okay?”

Amy watched how Penny listened wide-eyed to whatever Leonard was telling her. She nodded. “Okay,” she nodded again. “Well, that’s alright I guess. Are you on your way over now?”

Amy’s stomach constricted. She was worried. Why wasn’t Penny asking about Sergeant Cooper? She needed to know he was alright.

“Are they okay?” Amy asked when Penny hung up the phone.

“Yes, they’re on their way here,” Penny exhaled. “Stuart had to be taken to hospital, though. Leonard says his injuries are minor. The others are alright.”

Amy breathed out slowly.

Not long after, the doors to the bullpen opened and a whole lot of police officers walked in. Most of them were escorting handcuffed men to holding cells in the back, Detective Hofstadter included.

She scanned the crowd for the striking height of Sergeant Cooper, he seemed to be bringing up the rear. Amy’s mouth went dry when she assessed him. He looked entirely too hot in his uniform, but he looked beaten up as well; sweaty, and with scratches on his face.

He seemed to feel her eyes on him, and their eyes met across the room.

Amy gave him a timid smile, but her smile disappeared quickly when she saw how his expression turned from surprised to furious.

**To be continued**


	21. The Misbehaving Girl

**Chapter 20**

**The Misbehaving Girl**

Amy gave him a timid smile, but her smile disappeared quickly when she saw how his expression turned from surprised to furious.

His eyes darkened and he looked away from her. This was not the reaction she was expecting. Not after the night before – whether they would be pretending the phone sex had happened or not.

Sergeant Cooper stalked to his desk, and Amy watched him take off all kinds of gear she hadn’t seen him wear before. A weapon stick, another gun, a knife strapped to his leg. She swallowed thickly. Maybe coming to the precinct wasn’t such a good idea after all, despite the surprisingly fun conversations she had had with Penny.

Amy glanced behind her. Penny was nowhere to be seen. She was probably talking (or something) to Detective Hofstadter somewhere.

“Sarge! We’re gonna start interrogation, do you want to come? Speckerman is asking for a lawyer,” an unfamiliar officer called out.

“Let him call one then, I don’t care,” Sergeant Cooper snapped. “Don’t start without me. I’ll be with you in ten minutes. I got to take care of something first.”

Amy looked at them talk. She wondered what had the sergeant so pissed off; they had brought multiple people in at least. Maybe he was angry because officer Bloom had to be taken to hospital.

Sergeant Cooper fixed his gaze on her suddenly. “You’re coming with me,” he hissed. “Get your things.”

Amy blinked in surprise, but followed him down a halfway with her coat and bag in her hand. He pulled open the door to an interrogation room, much smaller than the one he had interrogated her in a week ago. “Get in,” he ordered.

Amy jumped at the sound of the door slamming shut behind her. She turned around to stare at Sergeant Cooper in surprise. Anger seemed to radiate off him.

“Are you okay?” Amy asked.

“Am I okay?” he repeated. “Am I okay?”

He raised his eyebrows as if she was being purposely stupid.

“Yes,” Amy said. “I heard Officer Bloom had to be taken to hospital. Did you get hurt?”

Sergeant Cooper didn’t seem to hear her. “Doctor Fowler,” he started, and Amy balked back. “I know not everyone has the same mental capabilities as I do, but I would have to assume that a woman with a PhD in neuroscience is able to remember a telephone conversation from approximately 8 hours ago.”

He paused for dramatic effect.

“When I called you and told you _not to leave your house_ , because we could not guarantee your safety, what is it you answered me?” he spoke menacingly.

“I said I would stay home,” Amy mumbled.

“Then, you must understand that I was more than just a bit surprised to find you here, in my precinct, chatting with Penny like nothing was going on?”

Amy opened her mouth to explain herself, but Sergeant Cooper wasn’t done talking.

“I got in a fist fight with a suspected murderer today, Amy,” Sergeant Cooper hissed, “and you know what went through my mind? _At least I don’t have to worry about Amy and the unknown criminal who targeted her, because she won’t leave her house today._ ”

Amy looked away from his penetration gaze.

“My entire squad was involved in this operation. I _told_ you that we couldn’t guarantee your safety, you told me you understood. And yet, here you are. Is it that difficult to follow a simple order?”

She glanced up at him. “I.. I was at home, and I figured I might as well wait around here and make myself useful,” Amy mumbled. “I was only alone and unsupervised for the ride here.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Sergeant Cooper raised his voice. “We still don’t know who we’re dealing with, who is out to get you and how dangerous this person is or isn’t! What if he was waiting outside your apartment building, hm? What if he followed you, waiting for you to get out of your car so he could corner you, or shoot you? I’ve seen cases of stalkers doing some seriously fucked-up shit.”

“I brought the gun with me,” Amy muttered defensively.

“Oh, you brought the gun with you!” Sergeant Cooper said mockingly. “You got a panic attack from seeing a human-shaped target, and you think you’d be okay using a gun on an actual person? Come on, Amy!”

His words stung. Amy glared at him. “Well, how was I supposed to know that it was _that_ unsafe to leave?” she asked.

“Because I told you to stay put! How else was I supposed to say that?” Sergeant Cooper yelled.

“What does it take for you to follow a simple order in a very dangerous operation? Do you think I _like_ spending my weekends training you to fight? Do you think I _want_ this operation to last long? Because I don’t. So, tell me Amy… What should I have said instead? _Dear Amy, please stay at home. I need my entire squad to come with me to roll up a string of drug dealers, who may or may not be linked to some infamous Mexican cartels. There is no one to keep post outside your house, so just stay inside until I tell you otherwise._ ”

Amy didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

Sergeant Cooper shook his head. “This isn’t going to work if you don’t work with me, Amy,” he said. “I should be able to trust you. When you tell me you understand my orders, I expect you to follow them.”

“I’m not one of your detectives,” Amy rebutted, before she realised that was not the way to go about this.

“Oh, I know you’re not! Because when I tell one of my detectives stay where they are, they don’t move another inch until I tell them to.”

Amy felt her face flush with a combination of anger and shame. Just who did he think he was, telling her off like this? So, she messed up. There was no need to yell at her like this.

“I already said I was sorry!” she was raising her voice now. “It won’t happen again.”

“Damn right, it won’t!” Sergeant Cooper hollered. He turned around and began to pace around. He was breathing deeply.

Amy looked him over. There was a tear in his uniform on the side of his left arm. His entire uniform looked terrible, now she had the time to look him over. It was covered in dirty streaks and more scratches than she had noticed before. Her eyes moved to his hands, the knuckles of his right hand were red and chaffed open.

“You’re hurt,” she blurted out. She took hold of his arm as he paced by her. Sergeant Cooper stiffened and stopped walking immediately.

Amy grasped his hand which he held in a strange angle. She examined the cuts for a second before he pulled his hand out of her grasp.

“It’s nothing,” he muttered.

The transceiver on his shoulder produced static. _“Sarge, come in.”_

Sergeant Cooper pressed down a button on the transceiver. “Cooper, here.”

_“We’re ready to question Speckerman, you wanted in?”_

“Yes, I’m on my way,” he said, his eyes staring at Amy. “Which of the uniformed officers are on duty today? I need someone escorted home.”

* * *

Amy drove with home in a police car with a huge officer, who was super-hot, but seemed rather dim-witted. His colleague was driving her car, following them. Amy thought it was all a little excessive.

“So, exactly how to do you know the sarge?” the man asked.

Amy furrowed her brow. “He’s the primary in my investigation,” she said. “There was a break-in at my lab.”

“Ahh,” he said. “I thought you were, like his girlfriend or something.”

Amy shrugged. She kind of was his ‘girlfriend or something’.

“But if you’re a victim… What were you doing at the station?” he asked, as if he was trying to piece together pieces of information really slowly.

“Look, officer…?” Amy said.

“Johnson. Zack Johnson,” the man supplied.

“Officer Johnson, I’d rather not talk anymore, if that’s alright with you,” Amy said. She was much too agitated still after the fight with Sergeant Cooper. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about him some more.

Officer Johnson nodded and grinned. “Alright,” he said. “But you got to talk a little. I don’t know where you live.”

Amy smiled weakly. Apparently you needed no certain level of intelligence to join the force.

* * *

Amy spent the rest of her Saturday night re-reading the fanfiction Sergeant Cooper had read the night before. She found a few typo’s which made her cringe, but she cringed the hardest when she realised the sergeant had read this and had known it was _her_ who wrote it.

The scenes were entirely too explicit. Amy re-read the passage he had referred to again. Earlier in the story, the time-travelling man from the 21st century had warned the protagonist about the upcoming World Wars. Their chemistry had been off the charts. And he had introduced her to a thing or two, when it came to the carnal pleasures.

While it still turned her on slightly, reading her own pornographic writing, she cringed a little as she read it over:

_I looked up at him hesitantly. Did women really do that in the 21 st century? He had mentioned it before, but I couldn’t be sure. It seemed so unhygienic, and also maybe a bit degrading? Mama always said that a man’s… thing, is only meant for his wife. To procreate with. And procreation was not done via a woman’s mouth, I was sure of that. _

_But he said it would feel good. Like it had felt good for me too, when he… Well, when he made me experience something I had never experienced before. And if I was honest; the thought of making him feel good after the way he had made me feel, when he touched me between my legs… it made me incredibly curious, and willing as well, to try to make him just as good._

_I bit my lip. Just thinking about how it had felt when he had touched me – I had touched myself once or twice, but it was wrong, and I had stopped myself – it caused an ache between my legs I had never felt before. I wanted him to touch me there again. Maybe he would, if I behaved well._

_The feelings he had caused when he did it; the way my whole body had quacked and felt like it was floating, but at the same time my knees gave out and my thoughts were completely blank… it had been so… wonderful._

Amy hadn’t realised just how much of built-up she had put in this particular fic, she scrolled down. The passages of internal contemplations flew over the tablet’s screen. She stopped when it got more interesting.

_“I don’t know how to do this,” I whispered, ashamed of myself. I knew it was illogical to feel shame; I didn’t even know this was a thing men and women did when they felt the way I felt for him. But it was just another thing I knew nothing about, and with the other things he had laughed at my naïveté and innocence._

_But he wasn’t laughing now._

_He reached out and pulled my head closer to his groin. “I’ll help you,” he grinned. He seemed really happy that he had been able to convince me, and that in turn made me happy as well._

_A good woman aimed to please a man after all._

_It wasn’t difficult, what he asked of me. But it wasn’t what I expected. Although, if I was honest, I didn’t really know what I had expected it to be like. Taking his member in my mouth; it was hard yet somehow soft, and he tasted… weird. The skin was salty, like my own skin tasted after a hard day’s work in the fields._

_He told me to lick him, to kiss him, to suckle on him like I did on the juicy pears we’d harvest in spring._

_And I tried to obey to my best abilities. It was difficult to do as he pleased sometimes, and he would tug on my hair – roughly. But it was the strangest thing; the pain he caused me somehow made the ache between my legs grow._

Amy flushed with heat. In her imagination she herself was on her knees in the barnyard floor, and the man on the receiving end of this blowjob had dark hair and striking blue eyes. She swallowed away the dryness in her throat. It must be because of the things that had happened between them that the usually face-less male counterpart of her fantasies suddenly had a face.

That had to be it.

_He was making groaning and grunting noises, like the men who worked in the stables did when they had to lift heavy crates, and I realised I would never be able to listen to the men work again without thinking back to this moment…_

_I was overwhelmed almost; so much was happening at once, my senses couldn’t keep up. My jaw hurt from keeping it open as far as possible, while he held my head as he moved me up and down on his shaft, my knees were starting to ache as well, although the straw on the barnyard floor helped a little. The sounds coming out of his throat were thrilling somehow, and having that part of him in my mouth… Even though he said it was normal, in the 21 st century at least, it still made me feel like I was misbehaving. _

_And for some reason, misbehaving with him didn’t feel that wrong. I only wanted it more._

Amy huffed. Ugh. She couldn’t believe some of these lines she wrote. They were so cheesy, and the protagonist was a little _too_ innocent for her liking now. She would never let herself be ordered around like this, or maybe she would… Depending on who was doing the ordering around. She certainly wouldn’t mind trying to give someone a blowjob. Just the idea of a certain someone groaning in pleasure _she_ caused made her incredibly aroused.

And also: she _did_ live in the 21st century. And if she was going to do this, she would make damn sure that he would return the favour as well.

Amy shifted in her seat. She had to admit, despite the naïveté of her protagonist, she still got aroused by imaging the scene in her head. An innocent girl, on the floor of a barn, being all confused about becoming aroused while she had a man’s penis in her mouth.

She resumed reading.

_From time to time it felt like he was trying to push himself down my throat. Maybe he was, because his groans became louder and louder when I moved my head even closer to his hips. His hand was on the back of my head, pushing me down, holding me in place._

_The pastor in church always told us girls that we should do what a man asks us. What he wants us to do. And I have always been a good girl. Daddy always said so, that I’d make a fine, obliging wife to a good man one day. He would not be giving my hand in marriage to just anyone._

_I wondered if I would still be as desirable as wife, if my future husband knew just how I was misbehaving right now. As long as I kept my virginity, it should be alright. I think._

_“You’re really good at this, baby,” he sighed, as he groaned his loudest moan yet._

_I hummed in appreciation; his praise for my performance made me feel warm inside. And not just warm inside, it felt as if my loins were on fire. I squeezed my legs together, there was a certain tension there that made my heartrate quicken. The same tension I had felt when he had touched me there, and made my whole body feel as if God himself had bestowed upon me his greatest blessing._

_He grumbled my name, and held my head in place as I felt the pulsations in his shaft increase._

_“Yes,” he groaned, and suddenly my mouth was filled with spurts of lukewarm liquid. It was bitter and slightly salty and it kept coming; I didn’t know what was happening – was this good? Was this supposed to happen? I struggled against his hold on me, the taste was off-putting and I wanted to move my head away._

_“Now, now, don’t pull away,” he grunted. “Swallow like a good girl.”_

_Swallow? I wrinkled my brow in confusion. I didn’t even know what it was that had come out of him, and I was supposed to swallow it down?_

_He pulled his softening member out of my mouth, but his hand pushed my jaw closed immediately. I blinked at him, my eyes had watered from his pushes against the back of my throat. His other hand moved to my throat, and he made a caressing motion, forcing me to swallow down the bitter liquid in my mouth._

_“There,” he said patronizingly, his eyes twinkled with a combination of satisfaction and smugness. “That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”_

_I shook my head, and coughed around the soreness in my throat. I didn’t know how to describe what I was feeling now. All I really knew was that I needed him to touch me again. The tingles were overpowering me._

_And I had followed his orders like a good girl, hadn’t I?_

Amy was restless. She could feel the accumulated arousal between her own legs; she was throbbing and dripping in her panties.

She recalled Sergeant Cooper’s words from the night before. _“I want to know if it aroused you, to write a dirty story about an innocent girl learning to suck dick like a pro? Did it make you wet, imagining that?”_

It did arouse her. And not just a little.

Amy looked at her phone. He hadn’t texted her or called her. She wondered if he was still busy at the station – it was well after 9:00 now. She had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. While she understood his anger towards her (even though she had apologized), she wondered who would be taking the high road when it came to reaching out.

She did need to train more, he had said so himself. Would she be jeopardising the investigation if she would stop her training? Probably. The investigation was going nowhere, so it was needed for her safety.

Amy exhaled slowly. She didn’t really know how to go about it. She opened her text chain with him, and typed out a quick message.

_To: Sheldon  
Hey. I feel terrible about today, I hope we can get past this. I was also wondering if we’ll train tomorrow. XX_

She hit _send_ quickly. He had sent her kisses before. It wasn’t that weird.

Amy moved off the couch to get a drink. She was almost embarrassed to realise she had gotten as aroused as the night before. Her underwear felt sticky.

Her phone buzzed with an incoming text. Amy hurried back to the couch.

_I’m needed at the station tomorrow to round up today’s bust. If you want, I could order someone else to train you._

Amy stared at the message. No “hello” or “hi” or “Amy” or even “Doctor Fowler”. Just a clinical message, without any kind of greeting. He also didn’t even mention her sort-of apologetic opening, or end the text with kisses.

The hurt she felt quickly morphed into anger. Was he that pissed off that he didn’t even want to train her anymore? She had been wrong to leave her house, but this was taking it a bit far. She furiously typed out a response.

_No, thanks. I guess I’ll see you Monday then. I assume you’re still escorting me to work._

It was the nicest she could be.

Sergeant Cooper appeared to be waiting for her reply, she could see the blue bubbles indicating him typing appear almost immediately.

_Of course. Captain’s orders._

Amy shook her head. He was being deliberately distant and short with her and she wasn’t having it. Uncaring whether or not he was still at the station, or interrogating perps or even just hanging out with Detective Hofstadter at the moment, she typed a reply she knew would get under his skin.

_I’ll see you then, officer. I did some re-reading myself tonight, and you were right._

Amy’s smirk lasted until she started to brush her teeth. She was playing with fire and it was exciting. Maybe a little scary as well.

But he had started it. And no matter his change of attitude now; they were nowhere near done playing. Apparently he just needed a little reminding.

Sergeant Cooper was quick to reply. Amy waited until she was under the covers of her bed, clad in just a camisole and her underwear, before she opened his reply.

_Right about what?_

Amy breathed out deeply, and slipped her hand inside her panties. The amount of wetness she encountered made her gasp for air. She pushed two fingers inside herself, whimpering softly as she did. She pulled her hand out of her underwear, and opened the camera on her phone.

Her fingers shone with slickness in the light of her nightlight. She shot a quick picture of her right hand, making sure that it was visible she was laying in her bed, and sent it as a reply to the sergeant.

_It does get me wet to imagine innocent girls sucking dick. I think I’ll have sweet dreams tonight._

He left her on read, but it didn’t matter. She had gotten under his skin. _Point Fowler._

**To be continued**


	22. The Appropriate Punishment

**Chapter 21**

**The Appropriate Punishment**

It was strange how soon a person got used to something. It had been a little more than a week – just a week – that Amy had seen Sergeant Cooper for the first time, and it was already strange not seeing him.

Her Sunday was like her other Sundays were; more laundry, cleaning the house (the parts she hadn’t stress-cleaned the day before, that is) and writing a little fanfiction with Garfield curled up next to her.

Apparently all her encounters, if one could call them that, with Sergeant Cooper made for great inspiration for her fics. She had written several intense scenes already between Laura and the time-traveller, and she was seriously contemplating publishing them right away. Sergeant Cooper was probably keeping tabs on her works.

Amy wondered what he would think of this particular piece she had written – where Laura was taken roughly on the first available flat surface. He had to realise she was inspired by the words he had said to her on the phone last Friday.

Ultimately, she decided against it. He still hadn’t replied to her provoking text from the day before. If that was because she had gone too far, or because he was still mad at her, she could know for sure. But she was not going to double text him – she had limited experience with men, but knew this was a no-go.

The ball was in his court.

* * *

Monday morning Amy woke up after a restless night. She was kind of nervous to see Sergeant Cooper again. She still hadn’t heard from him since she sent him that picture of her wet fingers, and if it weren’t for the text she kept re-reading ( _Of course. Captain’s orders)_ she wouldn’t think he would be there to pick her up at all.

Her tiredness caused her to turn off her alarm and wake up with a start at 10 minutes to 8. The other times Sergeant Cooper had picked her up, he had been there at precisely 8:15.

Amy hurriedly showered. She moved to her kitchen in her robe, and started her coffee. There was a knock at her door.

“Who is it?” she called out, it was 8:05. Either Sergeant Cooper was early, or it was someone else.

“It’s me,” he called out. _Me_. For some reason, referring to himself as ‘me’ seemed next-level intimate.

Amy hurried to the door, tightening the robe around herself. She didn’t really know why she bothered; he had seen her in similar stages of undress in the hotel. And really, after the whole phone sex thing Friday; did they have any secrets for each other?

“Hi,” Amy said, and she blushed upon seeing him. He was in full formal uniform. Dress pants, white shirt, tie. His uniform jacket was adorned with insignias. Her mouth dried out.

“Good morning,” he muttered, his eyes moving over her outfit – or lack thereof.

Amy moved aside. “Come in,” she said hurriedly. “I overslept, sorry. I’ll get dressed real quick. There’s coffee in the kitchen.”

Sergeant Cooper cleared his throat. “I don’t drink coffee,” he said in a tone that basically said _‘Don’t you know that by now’._

“Then help yourself to something else,” Amy mumbled. She needed to get away from him looking good enough to eat. Especially since she was wearing just her robe.

Amy exhaled slowly as she returned to her bedroom. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She hurried over to her dresser and quickly stepped into a pair of panties. She pulled on a pair of black opaque tights. She threw her robe on her bed – it was never unmade nowadays, not after last Saturday when the sergeant had seen her vibrator lying around in her bed.

“So, ehm…,” she called out through the ajar door to the living room as she fastened her bra, “what’s with the formal attire?”

She was at her closet now picking out a dress to wear. For some reason she felt like wearing a dress instead of her usual skirt-blouse-cardigan-combo.

“I have to appear in court at 9:30,” he said. His voice didn’t sound as if it was coming from the living room anymore. Amy turned around and met his gaze; he had entered her bedroom without asking permission. He had the decency to blush a little.

Amy sucked in her stomach self-consciously. Sergeant Cooper’s eyes moved over her form.

“I should have informed you I’d be here earlier,” he said, completely bypassing her state of undress or whatever had happened between them. “I can’t be late to court.”

“It’s alright,” Amy mumbled. She pulled the dress over her head. She moved her hands to her back to pull up the zipper, but Sergeant Cooper was way ahead of her. He pulled the zipper up, and his hand caressed the back of her neck fleetingly as he brushed her hair away from the nape of her neck.

“Thanks,” Amy whispered.

He cleared his throat. “You’re welcome,” he said. “Are you ready to go?”

She wasn’t. She hadn’t had any breakfast or coffee yet, but he appeared to be in a hurry. “Almost,” she said, taking a seat on the foot of her bed to put on her shoes. Sergeant Cooper raised his eyebrows when he saw her choice of footwear.

“Do you have some sort of appointment today?” he asked.

“No?”

“Then what’s with the dress and the heels?”

Amy flushed. Maybe she had subconsciously dressed as his mirror image? They made a nice pair like this; he in his uniform, she in her purple flowery dress. It almost felt like they had dressed up for an evening out to a formal event. Like a banquet.

_The banquet._ She had almost completely forgotten about that.

“I just felt like it,” she said in answer to his question. “Let me just get some coffee in a to-go cup, and we can go.”

* * *

They were both silent on their way to Caltech. Sergeant Cooper kept looking stoically ahead. Amy didn’t dare to bring up their discussion at the precinct. Or the picture she sent him. Obviously, it had been way out of line. He wasn’t even bringing it up.

Sergeant Cooper made her stop on a street corner where a uniformed officer stood waiting for them. He was dressed similarly to the sergeant, although his jacket bore less stripes and insignias. The sergeant took off his uniform jacket and handed it to the other officer, before he ordered her to keep driving. Now he just looked like a man who was walking around in half a suit.

He still looked drool-worthy.

“So, what do all those medals and insignias on your uniform mean?” Amy asked, as they walked to the university.

“Get into character, Amy,” Sergeant Cooper said, sounding short with her.

Amy glanced at him. Had she touched another sore topic? Like with his science background, which still intrigued her? He looked on without another glance, and Amy realised he was giving her the cold shoulder because he was still angry with her for her disobedient behaviour.

If he thought she would be apologizing again, he was very much mistaken.

She saw some of her colleagues approaching them from the other side of campus, and she quickly reached for his hand. They had an act to keep up after all. Sergeant Cooper squeezed her hand a little too tight for it to be comfortable.

People were watching them, and it made Amy feel a combination of uncomfortable (things were _not_ good right now) and smug (yes, I’m holding hands with a man looking like sex on a stick).

They walked up to her laboratory, Amy’s heels clicking on the floor. Wolowitz stood by her door, leaning up to it while he talked to Ms Davis from the HR department. Amy furrowed her brow; she had not expected to see either of them. And also not expected to see Wolowitz in full-on flirt mode with her.

“Good morning,” Amy greeted them.

“Ah, Doctor Fowler,” Ms Davis smiled, appearing happy to stop talking to Wolowitz. “I was wondering if you had a minute to talk.”

Amy blinked. “Of course, is something wrong?”

Ms Davis’ eyes moved from Sergeant Cooper to Wolowitz. “Let’s talk privately,” she said, giving Amy another smile that didn’t really help put her anxiety at bay.

“Alright,” Amy nodded.

Amy entered the code (still _1-2-3-4_ ) to access her laboratory. Sergeant Cooper let go of her hand and held it out for Ms Davis to shake.

“Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met, Sheldon Tucker,” he stated.

Ms Davis grasped his hand and shook it firmly. “Janine Davis, Caltech Human Resources.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Sergeant Cooper gave her a disarming smile, and Amy could _see_ Ms Davis melt a little.

Amy felt slightly jealous to see him turn on his Sheldon-Tucker-charm with another woman. Especially since the nicest he had been to her was help her with her zipper.

She turned to Howard Wolowitz, who seemed to be watching the entire exchange with rapt interest.

“Mister Wolowitz, what can I do you for?” Amy asked.

“I need to update the settings on the cameras, they can only work like this for a week,” he gave her an apologetic smile. “It will only take a few minutes.”

“Alright, come on in then,” Amy said. She hadn’t even put her lab coat on, and she was already exhausted.

“Why don’t I get us some coffees, Doctor Fowler, and we’ll talk once the LAPD is done here,” Ms Davis said.

“Yes, thanks,” Amy mumbled. _Why would HR be looking to talk to her?_

“Good to see you again, Mr Wolowitz,” Sergeant Cooper gave him a nod – playing his undercover persona splendidly.

“You too, Mr Tucker,” Wolowitz nodded. “I trust you’ve been keeping an eye on Doctor Fowler, here. I wouldn’t want to report anything less than positive back to the detectives at the precinct, after all.”

Amy glanced at the men. Wolowitz was trying to get a rise out of him – his wife had probably told him all about the things she and Penny had seen them do on the camera feed. Amy expected Sergeant Cooper to berate him, but he did nothing of the sort.

“Oh, I have been keeping an eye on Doctor Fowler alright,” he said, smirking. “As for the positive things to report; she misbehaved quite badly this weekend. Her punishment is still pending.”

Wolowitz sputtered in response. Amy felt her face heat up.

“What?” Wolowitz half-laughed, looking at him with big eyes.

Sergeant Cooper raised an eyebrow. “You know how it is, don’t you Wolowitz? We men got to keep our women in line. Otherwise they think they can get away with anything,” Sergeant Cooper explained as if he was talking about the weather.

He turned to Amy, smirking still. “Although I think you’ll listen to me better once I’m done with you tonight,” he stated, raising a solitary eyebrow.

Amy stared at him. She wanted to be offended by his degrading way of speaking, but she could feel her arousal building instead.

“I should look at those cameras,” Wolowitz said awkwardly, and he turned away.

Amy glared at the sergeant. Just what was his problem? She didn’t have to take this. “What’s happening tonight, if I may ask?”

“You’ll see,” he mumbled darkly, “your behaviour this weekend was out of line. I expect you to make it up to me.”

Amy furrowed her brow at him. _Wasn’t saying sorry enough?_

“What?” Amy asked, nonplussed.

Sergeant Cooper raised an eyebrow at her. “If you think I tolerate this kind of disobedient behaviour, you’re very much mistaken, love.”

Amy stared at him. Who was talking at this point, Cooper or Tucker? 

Ms Davis cleared her throat behind them. “Is everything alright?” she asked, her hands filled with cups of steaming coffee.

Amy felt herself blush. _At least the cameras weren’t rolling for this weird scene._ She felt uneasy.

“Yes,” Amy said quickly. She was sure her face was red. “Everything is fine. Ahem, I’m sure Mr Wolowitz is almost done with the cameras. Aren’t you?”

“Yeah, hold on,” Wolowitz looked at her quizzically for a split-second before he focussed on the camera again.

“I have to go, can’t be late for my appointment,” Sergeant Cooper interjected. He turned to Amy. “I’ll come pick you up at 5:00.”

“Alright,” Amy didn’t know what else to say.

Sergeant Cooper took hold of her jaw with his hand and pressed his lips to hers. Sparks erupted in her stomach almost immediately. Had it been two whole days since they had kissed in the lobby of her building? It felt like yesterday and simultaneously like a week ago. She reached out and took hold of his tie almost automatically, pulling him close. His lips moved skilfully over hers and like he had done times before, but it was different now.

There was an underlying anger there.

Amy felt her arousal increase even more.

Sergeant Cooper pulled back first. The hand on her face moved slightly, and his thumb brushed over her bottom lip, prying her lips apart. He pushed his thumb between her lips and Amy brushed her tongue against it automatically. “I think I know how I want you to make it up to me,” he whispered softly, but loud enough for the others to hear.

Amy’s stomach dropped.

He let go of her and stepped around her, making his way to the door.

“Be ready at 5:00,” he said again from behind her, and Amy squeaked when she felt a sharp slap land on her bottom. She turned around and gaped at him in shock.

It caused a delicious sort of burning, which caused tingles to erupt between her legs.

He looked at her with that raised eyebrow of his, and looked away after a beat. “It was nice to meet you, Ms Davis.”

She gave him a hesitant smile, and Amy watched his retreating form. There was an awkward silence now, as both she and Ms Davis watched Wolowitz gather his stuff before he also left them, giving them a last awkward nod.

“Bye.”

Amy took a seat on one of the stools, and indicated for Ms Davis to take a seat opposite her.

“So, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Ms Davis frowned. “Wouldn’t you rather talk somewhere else? Where the LAPD isn’t listening along?”

Amy waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, don’t worry. It’s only a visual they have set up here. There are no microphones here,” she lied easily.

Ms Davis smiled. “Alright.”

“Well, Doctor Fowler,” she said and her voice was melodious and soothing, “I would have met with you last week had I known about the break-in in time. When I was told however, you were in San Francisco for a conference. Fridays are my days off, so here we are. I just wanted to see how you were doing, after all that had happened.”

“Oh,” Amy exhaled in relief. “I’ve been doing alright. The LAPD is working really hard to find the person behind this. I have complete faith in them.”

“Of course you do,” Ms Davis gave her another sympathetic smile. “But I want to know how _you_ are. If necessary, you can take a few days off. These kind of events can be traumatizing.”

“I’m alright,” Amy said – not even lying this time. “My boyfriend hasn’t left my side, and it makes me feel strangely protected.”

Ms Davis’ smile didn’t reach her eyes this time. “It’s none of my business what you do in the privacy of your home, but he does seem rather possessive, yes.”

“Oh, he totally is,” Amy admitted quickly, and her voice took a suggestive tone when she continued, “And don’t tell anyone… But I love it.”

It was after Ms Davis left her to get back to work – or more accurately start her day – that her phone buzzed with an incoming text. It was 9:15, so even though he was about to appear in court, he still managed to find time to reach out.

Amy’s heart skipped a beat when she saw his name on her screen. She opened the message.

_I was serious when I said your punishment is still pending. We will talk tonight._

* * *

His tie hung loose around his neck when he walked into her lab at exactly 5:00. Amy swallowed away the dryness in her throat.

“Hey, babe,” he said – the door left open behind him. Amy wondered if there was anyone in the hall way listening in. Sergeant Cooper bent down and kissed her cheek.

“Hi,” Amy breathed. “I’m almost done.”

Sergeant Cooper nodded, and walked over to her bookcase, inspecting the books and the rocks on display. Amy quickly took off her white lab coat, and hung it on its designated spot. After checking her samples were all correctly shelved in the refrigerator and turning off the screen of her computer, she was ready to go.

“Alright,” Amy mumbled. The air around them was still awkward. Tense.

She wondered if it was the phone sex, her disobedience, or her attempted sexting that caused it. Probably a combination of all three. 

Sergeant Cooper glanced at her. “Come on,” he said, and he took her by the hand to the parking lot.

“Where are we off to tonight?” Amy asked. She needed to know where they were going this time, since she was driving them. Sergeant Cooper was either ignoring her or he was busy thinking about something else.

“The gymnasium,” he said, after she called his name again.

“Oh, can we stop by my house first? I didn’t bring my gym clothes,” Amy said – dread filled her. There was entirely too much tension between them now. Any form of physical closeness – were it with him standing behind her to correct her stance when shooting, or him attacking her – would be too much. “And I didn’t bring my gun.”

“There’s no need for the gun,” Sergeant Cooper said. “After all, you are secure enough about your ability to shoot that you feel protected enough to leave your house as long as you’re armed.”

Amy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was holding onto this a little too long. She opened her mouth to retort, but he continued speaking.

“No, we’ll be doing physical combat and you’ll wear what you’re wearing right now. Who knows what you’ll be wearing when this criminal tries to attack you after all? It’s best to be prepared in any situation.”

* * *

Amy’s heels sunk a little into the linoleum floor of the gymnasium. She had tried to loosen up her limbs some in the dressing room, stretching her legs and moving around her shoulders. She was incredibly nervous for this.

Sergeant Cooper had been short with her the entire day and now he wasn’t even letting her train in work-out clothes. She guessed this was his way of punishing her.

Sergeant Cooper was waiting for her, having dragged a standing punching bag to the centre of the room. He had taken off his dress shirt, and he wore a white wife-beater instead. Amy felt the saliva pool in her mouth.

“Alright,” he said, “you will most likely be overpowered in any type of fight, so let’s assume you don’t have your gun to protect you. You’ll need to know where to hit and how to throw a punch. Do you remember where you’re supposed to hit someone?”

Amy nodded.

“Good.”

She wasn’t prepared to have him charging towards her immediately. Amy froze up for a second, but she sidestepped like he had taught her. Sergeant Cooper spun on his heel quickly, and grasped her wrists firmly.

Amy’s heartrate quickened and she tried to think of how to get out of his hold. Sergeant Cooper was close to her, and his usually comforting scent of talcum powder and that manly smell wafted up her nose. She looked up at him.

He was staring her down; his eyes fiery. Amy swallowed thickly. She felt heat wash over her.

“Sh-Sheldon,” she stuttered, pulling on her wrists.

“You don’t remember how to get out of this hold, do you?” he said.

Amy shook her head, that wasn’t what she had wanted to ask. “I said I was sorry before, but I really am,” she whispered softly, her face heating up even more.

The grip on her wrists loosened a little.

Amy looked away from his unwavering gaze. “It’s just… I wasn’t thinking clearly, obviously.”

“Do you have any idea what kind of dangerous situation you could have gotten into?” he asked, his voice as firm as it had been when he had first interrogated her. “This reckless behaviour of yours could have gotten you kidnapped as well, or worse – hurt or killed.”

He let go of her wrists and stalked away from her. “Jesus, Amy,” he exclaimed loudly, and he turned to the punching bag and hit it hard with his fist. Amy jumped back.

He took another swing at the bag, and another. Amy could only stare.

“What do you mean _obviously_ you weren’t thinking clearly?” he asked when he seemed to be done hitting the punching bag.

“W-well,” Amy stammered. Surely he knew why she was at the station that day? She had slowly been going crazy with worry for him.

Sergeant Cooper walked over to her again, his chest heaving slightly. He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Why weren’t you thinking clearly, then?” he repeated. He was in her face now.

Amy bit her lip and shrugged. “Because.”

She rolled her eyes at her own ineloquence. As someone with a doctorate, she should have been able to give a better response, but she couldn’t really tell him what drove her out of the house, could she?

“Because what, Amy?” Sergeant Cooper whispered heatedly.

Amy couldn’t look away from him, not when he was so close she could almost feel his breath on her face. Sergeant Cooper’s eyes roamed over her face.

“Don’t tell me it was our little telephone conversation that caused you to stop thinking clearly, now?”

**To be continued**


	23. The Cease-Fire

**Chapter 22**

**The Cease-Fire**

“Don’t tell me it was our little telephone conversation that caused you to stop thinking clearly, now?”

He was smirking, and Amy was having none of it. She was trying to be genuine in her apology to him here, and he was turning it into something sexual instead.

She raised her eyebrows at him in defiance.

“What telephone conversation?” she asked, taking a step back from him and crossing her arms.

Sergeant Cooper chuckled. “Must have been a very vivid dream on my part then, if you don’t remember.”

Amy blinked at him. Two could play this game.

“Oh, you’re referring to the conversation where you asked me to masturbate for you, and then afterwards immediately said to forget about it? Because I had almost forgotten about that, yes,” she said with as much sass as she could.

“You had almost forgotten, hm?” he asked, narrowing his eyes and smirking even more than before. “You could have fooled me, with that picture you sent me.”

Amy felt herself blush. He had the nerve to ghost her, but bring it up now? That bastard.

“I don’t remember sending you a picture, Sergeant,” she lied.

He shook his head at her, still smirking.

“What I was _trying_ to say,” Amy emphasized, “before you felt the need to throw these allegations in my face…”

She paused to take a breath. “Is that I really am sorry. I regret leaving my house, I shouldn’t have done that.”

Sergeant Cooper nodded. “And why should you have stayed put?”

Amy felt the anger course through her veins. If he was trying to make her say “ _because you ordered me to”,_ he had another thing coming. She had been planning to tell him she had been so easily convinced by Penny to leave, because she was going insane with worry for him – but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of admitting that now.

“Because the criminal who broke into my laboratory is still at large, and I put myself in a dangerous situation by leaving without additional protection,” she said instead.

Sergeant Cooper nodded. “Apology accepted.”

“Now,” Amy said, “Isn’t there something that you would like to say to me?”

Sergeant Cooper looked surprised at her question. “I’m sorry?”

“Yes, _that_. But then like you mean it.”

“I don’t see what I have done that needs apologizing here, Doctor Fowler,” he said with his annoying arrogant demeanour.

“You don’t?” Amy asked, unable to keep the disbelief out of her voice. “How about… I’m sorry for having guards posted outside your building without informing you? Or… I’m sorry for going off at you at the station? Or maybe… I’m sorry for being totally inappropriate with you, with Wolowitz and Ms Davis present as well?”

Sergeant Cooper shrugged. “I can’t believe you thought we’d leave your building unsupervised throughout the investigation. But if you think I should have informed you personally, then I apologize for that,” he said. Amy frowned – that wasn’t a real apology.

“As for the other two; I did not _go off_ at you. You were completely reckless and you didn’t even realise that, so I had to talk some sense into you. And this morning I wasn’t inappropriate. I was merely playing my undercover persona,” he said haughtily.

Amy could only shake her head at his stubbornness. “Fine,” she said. “Now, are you going to teach me how to throw a punch or what?”

* * *

Half an hour later, Amy’s dress clung to her back with sweat, and her heels lay scattered in a corner. Her feet slipped a little on the linoleum floor, but she wasn’t going to take off her tights as well. Her knuckles were beginning to feel sore from hitting the punching bag, which Sergeant Cooper was holding steady as she gave it blow after blow.

“Good,” Sergeant Cooper said after she landed a particularly hard blow. “Remember to twist your wrist at the last second, that way the impact of the blow is harder.”

“What?” Amy panted. He had given her so many pointers by now, she was losing track.

Sergeant Cooper walked around the punching bag and came to a halt by her side. “Like this,” he said.

He made a fist with his right hand, the back of his hand facing downwards. “Now, when you move your arm forward, right before you get to the bag, twist your wrist so the back of your hand faces up. Because of the added momentum of the twisting of your hand, the force with which you hit almost doubles.” 

Amy nodded. She didn’t really understand, but she couldn’t really care much about it either. 

“Here, I’ll show you the difference,” he said.

Amy took a step back and watched him beat the boxing bag to a pulp for the third time that evening. His hits did seem to have more impact when he punched like he instructed her to. 

“See?” he asked after a while, breathing deeply. Amy blinked rapidly, she had been entranced watching him. She swallowed the dryness in her throat away.

“Yes,” she lied.

He made her go again. After throwing three punches, Amy lowered her arms in fatigue. Her muscles ached from the strain of holding her fist up to her face and punching the air and the bag. How did people do this?

“I can’t anymore,” she panted – her arms felt like lead.

Sergeant Cooper glanced at the clock on the wall. “Yes, it’s getting fairly late already. We should go, I’ll order dinner from the car,” he said.

Amy looked at him in surprise. “Are we having dinner, then?” she asked.

“I don’t think we’re done talking, do you? And we should both eat a final meal for the day. It’s only logical to combine the two,” he stated.

“Right,” she mumbled. “Logical.”

* * *

Amy drove home wearing a dark blue LAPD t-shirt as a makeshift dress; Sergeant Cooper had looked her over on their way to the locker rooms, and took pity on her clammy appearance.

He had pulled her into the men’s locker room and had made her wait as he opened one of the lockers. Amy had been able to glance inside, and in it lay a pile of immaculately folded t-shirts. 

“Here,” he had said as he had handed her one. “You’ll catch a cold if you go outside in wet clothing.”

She hadn’t been _that_ sweaty, and the walk to the car wasn’t that far either. But she had to admit she felt strangely sexy wearing a t-shirt with the letters ‘ _sgt. C.’_ written in the label in the neck.

Sergeant Cooper kept glancing at her as she drove.

It was when she parked at her building that she noticed he wasn’t looking at _her,_ but at her legs. The t-shirt he had given her wasn’t really long enough to cover a lot of thighs. She felt strangely flattered.

* * *

Amy left Sergeant Cooper on her couch to cuddle with Garfield while she took a quick shower. She pulled on a pair of leggings and baggy sweater. She held his LAPD t-shirt up to her nose, it smelled like him. Would he want it back, or should she just pretend to forget to give it back and sleep in it instead?

“The food is here,” Sergeant Cooper called out, making her drop the t-shirt in shock. Just what was _wrong_ with her?

Amy gave him a small smile as he handed her a take-out box. “The chicken is diced, not shredded. The texture change gives the whole dish a better balance like this,” he explained when she examined the contents of the box. “Here is some good Korean mustard to go with it.”

“This Thai restaurant serves Korean mustard?” Amy asked.

“No, they don’t. But since I ask for it with every order I place, they’ve started to keep in in stock.”

Amy looked at him. This was the second time she had witnessed him being very particular about his food choices. The next time she had a moment alone with either Leonard or Penny she should remember to ask about this.

“Thanks,” she said. She had to admit the food _did_ have a nice structure with the diced chicken and the Korean mustard added a certain zing to the food she had not expected. “It’s good.”

Sergeant Cooper nodded. “I know,” he said. They ate in silence for a while.

“So, ehm… how was the rest of your weekend?” Amy asked. She had glanced at his hands when he showed her how to punch; his hands had been wrapped in a white tape of sorts, presumably to protect his knuckles. The tape was gone now, and she could see some of them had fresh scabs on them.

“It was fine,” he said gruffly. “We managed to roll up a sting of high profile drug dealers. The main guy we arrested ratted out his supplier. The case turned out to be even bigger than we had thought it would be. We had to give the case over to the feds. They’ll take it from here.”

Amy nodded along. “How’s Officer Bloom doing?”

“He’ll be alright,” Sergeant Cooper answered. “One of the punks had a knife and cut him. He didn’t aim too well – luckily for Stuart. The doctors were able to stop the internal bleeding and they stitched him up. He’ll be fine in a few weeks.”

“That’s good to hear,” Amy said softly. Officer Bloom had helped them figure out their cover-story and he had seemed way too nice and soft to be a police officer. “And you?”

“And me what?” Sergeant Cooper looked at her quizzically, before he took another bite of his food.

“Your knuckles looked pretty badgered up,” Amy said. “Are you alright?”

Sergeant Cooper swallowed down his bite of food. “I just have some bruises, it’s fine,” he mumbled.

_“Where?”_

Sergeant Cooper’s head snapped up. Amy blushed under his scrutinizing gaze. It was out before she knew it, but she was genuinely surprised. She had ogled him when he had been taking out his frustrations on that poor punching bag. That vest he had been wearing didn’t leave much to the imagination.

Sergeant Cooper blinked at her. “What does it matter?”

It didn’t. She was just taken aback he had been gotten into a fight and was still able to lecture her like he had done. Not to mention the way he had been working out just an hour ago like nothing happened. Their conversation was taking a strange turn though, talking about his injuries like this.

Damage control was in order. The conversation was far too serious and tense.

_It was time for Girlfriend!Amy._

“Well,” she said softly, “I need to know where to give you those kisses, don’t I? It’s best for boo-boos and ouchies after all.”

Sergeant Cooper gazed at her. “Are you sure about that, love?” he whispered darkly. “You might end up using that mouth for more than just _kissing_ if you do.”

Amy felt the fire burn in her lower belly. She shifted in her seat. “Wasn’t that what you had planned for me anyway?” she breathed.

Sergeant Cooper’s eyes darkened as he stared at her. “You apologized, so I was going to let you out of your punishment, but if you insist,” he mumbled.

Amy felt like her face as well as her loins were on fire.

They seemed to be having a sort of staring match – Amy didn’t know the rules, and she wasn’t sure what prize the winner would receive either. Her face flushed even more.

Sergeant Cooper bit his lip and let his eyes wander lower over her body. He cleared his throat and looked away. Amy breathed out slowly, willing her heartrate to slow down.

“Now,” he said firmly, “we need to go over your strategy tomorrow.”

Amy blinked, caught off guard by the sudden change of topic.

“What strategy tomorrow?” Amy asked.

“You’re having lunch with Dr. Koothrappali, aren’t you?” Sergeant Cooper asked rhetorically. “I read the notes on the interview Hofstadter and Winkle did with him, and while he doesn’t seem that suspicious or even capable of harming an animal, I do think we shouldn’t overlook him that easily.”

Amy frowned. If anyone wasn’t the criminal, it was Rajesh. He was much too kind. And besides that; she saw him every week. If he wanted to harm her, he would have done so weeks ago. She told him so.

“I agree, but I still want you to wear the wire tomorrow,” he said firmly.

Amy shrugged. “Alright,” she didn’t really care. It wasn’t as if any conversation she had nowadays was private at all. Even at that very moment, there was a possibility that there were people listening in on them.

“Do you think you can wire yourself tomorrow or do you need me to come by?”

Amy looked up at him, her face heated up. “I can’t really tape the transmitter to my back,” she stuttered, “but can I wear the transmitter on my front as well? I’ll wear multiple layers anyway. Rajesh won’t notice.”

Sergeant Cooper’s face fell a little. “I suppose it will work properly when taped to your front,” he mumbled. “There are always a few officers nearby, if you’re unable to you can always ask for help. I think Detective Winkle is working tomorrow, so she can help you if needed.” 

Amy raised her eyebrows. “Why would Detective Winkle be the one to help me?”

“Because,” Sergeant Cooper said, as if it were obvious, “she is a female officer. I assumed that’s what you would prefer.”

“I wasn’t given the option to have a female officer wire me up the other two times,” Amy replied questioningly, giving him a look.

Sergeant Cooper’s cheeks coloured a dark pink. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Well, there wasn’t really time to get Detective Winkle in your lab in time when you met with Siebert, and it worked well to keep our cover up,” he said. He quickly moved away from the couch, taking their empty take-out containers to her kitchen.

“You’ll bring the wire with you to work tomorrow?” Sergeant Cooper asked as he seemed to preparing to leave. He pressed a few buttons on his phone and pocketed it. 

Amy nodded. “Yes, I will,” she replied, she wondered who he was texting.

“Good,” he said. “I’ll be here at my usual time to pick you up.”

“I’ll try to be dressed this time,” she said with a small smile. He was probably emphasizing the time he’d be there so he wouldn’t run into her in her robe again.

He merely stared at her. Maybe he didn’t mind seeing her in her robe.

“I should go,” he said after a beat. “My ride is downstairs.”

“Oh,” Amy mumbled, slightly disappointed he was leaving. “Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yes,” he said with a firm nod, and he reached for the handle of her front door.

“Sheldon,” she called out to him, following him to her door. “Are we alright? After Saturday?”

He nodded solemnly. “We are,” he confirmed. “I may have reacted a bit harshly at the time…”

Amy raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“But you see now where I was coming from,” he concluded. “It’s my job to keep you safe, Amy.”

“I know,” she muttered, feeling somewhat berated once again.

She could hear the buzzing of an incoming call coming from the sergeant’s pants. He quickly grabbed it from his pocket and declined the call.

“That’s my Uber driver,” he said. “If I’m not down in a couple of minutes, he’ll leave.”

“Okay,” Amy nodded. Perhaps it was for the best he left, the air between them was strange and still somewhat tense.

Sergeant Cooper looked at her for a split-second, before he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers in a soft kiss. Amy moaned slightly as he pulled away all too quickly.

“Sorry. Habit,” he said, sounding not at all apologetic.

Amy gave a dry chuckle. “I’ll tolerate it this time, sergeant.”

Sergeant Cooper gave her a half-smirk. “Oh, you’ll tolerate it, hm? You already confessed to not minding it when I kiss you, love,” he said. Amy gasped softly – he was calling her _love._ But that telephone conversation had been between her and Sergeant Cooper, not Sheldon Tucker.

And contrary to how Sheldon Tucker addressed her, Sergeant Cooper didn’t call her _love._

He either didn’t notice how he was mixing up his two personas or he simply didn’t care. “Get some rest, I’ll see you in the morning,” he said with some form of finality.

“Okay. G’night,” Amy whispered, her thoughts going a mile a minute. Sergeant Cooper bent forward again and brushed his lips across her cheek.

His eyes twinkled slightly when he moved upright. “Sweet dreams.”

* * *

Sergeant Cooper looked like his Sheldon Tucker counterpart the next day, and Amy was slightly disappointed to see him in his regular clothes. His uniformed look had made for a rather vivid masturbation fantasy, and she was still a little tingly from it.

It probably showed on her face that she had used her faithful pink friend on herself a mere half hour before his arrival.

“Good morning,” he had said, his eyes narrowing as he assessed her face. “You look…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but his expression changed from wondering to realisation to a certain heated look.

“Hi,” Amy said quickly, avoiding his gaze. “Shall we?”

* * *

Their ride to the university was somewhat awkward, but Amy managed to find a subject to discuss that was neutral and interesting for them both.

“So, I read an excerpt of Dr Greene’s now book online, it was as hilarious as his speech at Berkeley.”

The rest of the ride had consisted of Sergeant Cooper reading the excerpt out loud to her, and either snorting derisively or laughing uproariously at certain parts. Amy chuckled at his obvious enjoyment.

“Thank you, Doctor Fowler,” he said, grinning broadly as they walked to her lab. “It’s been a while since I goofed off like this, especially after working so hard.”

Amy ducked her head, smiling. It made her stomach churn in a sort of delicious way when he spoke to her like that. Sergeant Cooper was still smiling slightly when he walked with her into her lab.

“I’ll be at the ehm… _office_ all day today in regards to that work I had to this weekend,” he said, “but you can text me any time. Will you call me before you go to lunch?”

Amy had pulled on her lab coat already, for the first time in a week and half, she was in the mood to work.

“Of course,” she said. The wire was in her bag, ready to be put on for her lunch date with Rajesh.

Sergeant Cooper glanced at the open door leading to the hall way, Amy could hear the sound of people chatting.

“I’ll leave you to your blood works and pivot tables,” he winked.

Amy grinned at him. “Yes, please.”

“You’re in an exceptionally good mood,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her again, “that better not be because you’re having lunch with another man today.”

He was in full-on Sheldon Tucker mode.

“I think you know why I’m in a good mood today,” Amy replied suggestively, going into Girlfriend!Amy mode. She took hold of his windbreaker and raised herself her on tip-toes.

“Do I?” Sergeant Cooper asked, raising that solitary eyebrow at her again.

Amy bit her lip and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Hmhm,” she hummed.

His hands had taken hold of her waist and pulled her against him, holding her upright and supporting her in her quest to reach him. His eyes searched hers, as if he wasn’t sure if she was playing her undercover counterpart now or not.

Just like she had wondered about him the night before.

“Enlighten me,” he murmured.

Amy blushed, but decided to hold her ground. He had messed with her head the day before, she could do the same. She reached up and ran her hand through his hair. She pulled him down and let her lips graze the shell of his ear as she answered him.

“The thought of you in that uniform had me coming almost as hard as hearing you order me to come for you.”

Sergeant Cooper made a guttural sound, and Amy smiled when she saw his shocked expression. She pressed a kiss to his mouth.

“Now, let me get to work,” she said as if nothing had happened. “Those pivot tables won’t study themselves, you know.”

She winked at him and walked over to her working station, leaving Sergeant Cooper to stare after her.

**To be continued**


	24. The Stake-Out

**Chapter 23**

**The Stake-Out**

Putting the wire on herself wasn’t as easy as she had thought it would be. Amy checked out her appearance in the reflective surface that once held those ominous words.

Her mind drifted off to Ricky. His nicotine addiction would be gone by now – it only took the human body three days to get rid of the nicotine addiction. It was the habit that people needed to shake that was the hardest part. She wondered how Ricky would be doing now, and above that; if he was doing anything at all.

Every day without him felt like another day closer to finding him dead instead of alive.

She tried to divert her thoughts. She flicked the switch on the microphone she had taped to her chest. “This is Amy Farrah Fowler, testing,” she said softly. It was weird to be talking to herself.

“ _Copy loud and clear, Doctor Fowler,”_ Detective Hofstadter sounded in her ear.

“Good,” she mumbled. She took her bag with her and locked the door to her laboratory behind her. She felt like a secret agent on a mission, sent in to collect intel on the enemy. If only she knew what kind of information she needed to get out of him, then this whole thing would be over much sooner.

* * *

“Amy!” Rajesh exclaimed happily when she approached him with her tray of food in the cafeteria.

“Hello, Rajesh,” she smiled, giving him a nod. She was suddenly happy to be carrying the tray of food; if he had gone in for a hug he would have definitely felt the transmitter that was taped to her front.

“Hello, hello,” he grinned at her. “You look positively radiant! Did someone have a wild night?”

Amy blushed under his suggestive gaze, and vowed not to masturbate in the morning again, seeing it was written all over her face.

“I had a pretty good night, yes,” she answered shyly.

“Do tell me everything,” Rajesh said. “I am dying to know more about this Sheldon you never told me about before…”

“Is that all you want to know?” Amy laughed, “I thought we were going to talk about Hugh Grant in Notting Hill?”

Rajesh waved his hand at her dismissively. “Who cares about a fictional character – although Hugh Grant as William Thacker is a total dreamboat – when you have _actual_ romance happening in your life!”

“Alright,” Amy muttered awkwardly. She pushed her salad around in her plate, hoping to gather her thoughts. She knew their cover story, but it was strange lying to one of her few friends like this.

“Well, we matched on this dating site and we kind of hit it off right away,” she said. Rajesh nodded at her encouragingly. “We share a lot of the same interests, especially when it comes to scientific research. And I don’t know… we talked online for a long time, and when he suggested meeting in real life, I was smitten immediately.”

Rajesh was looking at her with rapt interest, like he was watching a movie.

“Really?”

“Oh, yes,” Amy said – and she realised she wasn’t even lying that much now, “I mean, he’s tall, dark haired, but has blue eyes… And while he’s really smart, he’s also pretty fit. He can easily lift me from the ground, and you know me – I’m a feminist. But there’s something about a man lifting a woman from to ground that makes me weak in the knees.”

Rajesh’s eyes widened. “He sounds dreamy.”

Amy sighed. “He kinda is.”

She sincerely hoped no one at the station was laughing too much at her now; she sounded completely lovesick. It was just to keep their cover up.

“Can I see picture of him?” Rajesh asked. Amy froze in shock. She didn’t have a picture of him.

She quickly took a bite to eat, hoping to buy time to come up with a plausible answer as to why she didn’t have any pictures of him on her phone. That was a typical thing to have as a couple, wasn’t it?

_“I’ve texted you two pictures just now,”_ Sergeant Cooper’s voice sounded in her ear. Amy’s stomach dropped; she hadn’t expected him to listen in alongside Detective Hofstadter for some reason.

She held up her finger at Rajesh, indicating she needed a second to get her phone. She bent down to get her phone from her bag and unlocked it, wondering what kind of pictures he could have sent her.

The first picture she opened almost made her stomach drop. It was obviously taken a couple seconds ago, because he was in the same outfit he had been that morning. He was giving the camera a half-smirk, just the corner of his mouth was lifted up. Amy’s heart skipped a beat.

The next picture was one he had pulled from his gallery; a candid shot where he was wearing his white uniform undershirt, and his sleeves were rolled up. He wasn’t looking at the camera, but somewhere to the side.

He looked good enough to eat.

She handed the phone to Rajesh, feeling strange proud.

“Oh my, Amy!” Rajesh exclaimed so loudly that Amy had to look around to see if people were staring at them.

Amy blushed as she took back her phone. “He’s pretty good-looking,” she mumbled shyly – Sergeant Cooper was listening in.

Rajesh nodded in agreement. “What did you say he does for a living again?”

“He and his brother are co-CEO’s of a tire company,” Amy answered. “They’re huge in Texas – that’s where he’s from. And Sheldon has been in California for the last few months trying to see if they can branch out here as well.”

“He must be a sweet-talker then?”

Amy heard Detective Hofstadter snort in her ear, she laughed as well. “He’s more of the stoic, silent type. But he is pretty charismatic, I guess that helps sales.”

It was the first time she had to use more of their agreed upon cover-story, and she wondered if she was selling it.

“Well, obviously he’s very charismatic if he managed to rope you in,” Rajesh smiled. “I’d love to meet him. Are you taking him with you to the banquet this Friday?”

“Yes, I am,” Amy answered. “Will you be bringing anyone? That girl you mentioned, Emma?”

“Emily,” he corrected her. “And yes, she was very much looking forward to it. She asked about you as well, so she’ll be happy to hear you’re coming too.”

“She did?” Amy asked.

“Yes,” Rajesh said. “She’s looking for a position here at Caltech. She works as a dermatologist at Huntington Hospital, but wants to see if she can get her PhD. I mentioned the research you do with the addiction and the monkey test subjects, and she was asking me more about that. I told her she should ask you herself if you come to the banquet.”

_“Try to see if you can get her last name,”_ Sergeant Cooper said in her earpiece. Amy’s nerves had been on end as well.

“I can see if I can help her out,” Amy said, hoping she sounded unperturbed. “Maybe I could get in touch with her before Friday? I could look her up on Facebook. Emily..?”

“Sweeney. Emily Sweeney,” Rajesh supplied.

“So, I guess we’re both doing better in the romance department than we thought,” Amy said, wanting to change the subject. “It’s no world-famous actress who falls for the owner of a travel bookshop, but I think we’re doing pretty good for ourselves.”

“We are,” Rajesh agreed.

Amy smiled; she may have been faking it all, but in this moment she could pretend to be the lovesick girlfriend of a Texan businessman, who had striking blue eyes and could lift her from the ground easily.

“But that closing scene, at the press conference… I think I like that even more than the classic ‘ _I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her’.”_

Rajesh reacted appalled at that, and the rest of their lunch date was spent talking about the fictional love life of Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. Amy couldn’t help but wonder about Rajesh’s lady friend, who seemed to be a little too interested in her.

Or maybe prolonged exposure to a LAPD detective just made her paranoid.

* * *

Amy had said goodbye to Rajesh and was on her way back to her lab when her phone buzzed in her bag. She pulled it out as she entered her lab again.

_From: Sheldon  
I thought you were going to call me before your lunch date? _

Amy stared at the screen. She _had_ told him she’d call him before her lunch date with Rajesh. Her mind went into overdrive immediately. Had she screwed up somehow? Was she supposed to talk more tactics beforehand? It was too late now.

And why wasn’t he talking into her earpiece if it was that important?

Amy awkwardly cleared her throat. “Uhm, I’m going to take the wire off. I don’t know who’s watching, but could you turn off the cameras?” she said into her empty lab.

_“Sure thing, Doctor Fowler,”_ it was Wolowitz this time.

“Thanks,” she mumbled.

After she had taken off the wire and re-buttoned her blouse, she grabbed her phone and shot off a quick text to Sergeant Cooper.

_Completely slipped my mind with putting on the wire by myself. Was there anything you wanted to talk about?_

Not long after her phone pinged with another message.

_It’s not important now. Be ready at 5:00._

* * *

“Hello love,” Sergeant Cooper greeted her as he walked into her lab. Amy looked up from her computer screen, he was early.

“Hey,” she said awkwardly. She still felt a little apprehensive about the phone call she didn’t make before lunch. Sergeant Cooper was in front of her already, and he took hold of her chin as he leaned in and kissed her softly.

Amy whimpered. She wasn’t getting used to kissing him like this; not even after all the heated looks and tension-filled silences.

“Are you ready?” he asked. “I’m sorry I got here earlier, but we need to get going. Change of plans.”

Amy looked at him quizzically. They didn’t have any plans to begin with. “Everything alright?” she asked.

Sergeant Cooper looked at his watch, and he seemed agitated.

“I’ll give you one of my handguns, just to be safe.”

* * *

He made her park her car in an alley where they were hardly visible to passers-by. They had a good view of what appeared to be an empty warehouse. It looked abandoned and shady.

“Now will you explain to me what we’re doing here?” she asked.

Sergeant Cooper held up his hand. “One moment,” he said, his eyes glued to his phone.

Amy heard the line ring as he put it on speaker.

“ _Sarge?”_

“Johnson,” he answered, and Amy recognized the voice to be that of the officer who had driven her home that Saturday. “I’ve arrived at the side, silver Ford Focus. You can go.”

“ _Okay, thanks Sarge. Nothing happened so far, no movements visible, and I only saw one vehicle arrive. A silver car.”_

Sergeant Cooper rolled his eyes. “Yes, that’s us,” he said exasperatedly.

“ _Oh, right. Well, we’ll go then. Thanks again, Sergeant,”_

Amy chuckled at his ignorance.

“You’re welcome,” Sergeant Cooper said. “Now, go home to your wife. And next time, make sure you have your schedule in order when we make arrangements for stake-outs like these.”

_“Will do, boss.”_

Sergeant Cooper sighed deeply as he hung up the phone.

“Stake-outs?” Amy repeated, giving the sergeant a surprised look. Her heartrate picked up.

“It’s no big deal,” he said, his eyes fixed on the building in front of them. “We’ve received some tips that there might be drugs being dealt in here. One of the guys we arrested last weekend mentioned this place as well. It’s just a precaution, to see if we caught everyone. Johnson and his partner were supposed to stay posted here until midnight, but he forgot that it’s his wedding anniversary today.”

Amy raised her eyebrows.

“I need my other officers elsewhere tonight, so I said I’d take over the post for a few hours,” he continued. “We’ll be relieved in at 8:00.”

“Is this safe for me?” Amy asked.

“I wouldn’t have taken you with me if it wasn’t,” Sergeant Cooper replied.

“Alright,” Amy mumbled. “So, how does this work? We just sit in a parked car for a few hours, trying to see if there is any movement in the building in front of us?”

Sergeant Cooper nodded. “Pretty much, yes,” he said, his eyes never leaving the building in front of him.

“Okay then,” Amy muttered. She unbuckled her seatbelt and sighed. This wasn’t how she had expected her evening to go, and she didn’t really know what to make of this. Hanging out with Sergeant Cooper in a parked car for a few hours.

“I brought us some sandwiches,” Sergeant Cooper said as he waved to his messenger’s bag. “I get that this isn’t ideal, but it’s force majeure.”

“It’s alright,” Amy said. This felt like another strange date between them.

He watched the building together in silence for a while. Amy spent the time reading a fanfic on her phone. The sun had set, and the streetlights were turning on one by one. It was relatively dark in the car now, and Amy felt the sergeant’s eyes on her.

“Put your phone away,” he said. “The light from the screen will give away our position.”

Amy gave him an unamused look. “It’s rather boring sitting here with nothing to do, sergeant,” she huffed.

“Hmm,” he hummed, as if he was contemplating a topic to discuss. “Were you able to get some significant results from your blood tests?”

Amy looked at him in surprise. “I was. Thanks to you, actually. I was having such a hard time with those tables, and you managed to fix them in no time. It was really helpful.”

“You’re welcome,” Sergeant Cooper muttered.

Amy couldn’t help but look at him inquisitively. “How did you know how to fix my tables? You never answered me when I asked you then.”

He wasn’t able to get away this time, and they were stuck in a car for a few hours. Sergeant Cooper sighed.

“I have a doctorate in Physics,” he said.

Amy gaped at him. “You do?”

“Yes,” Sergeant Cooper – no, _Doctor Cooper –_ answered. “I went to college at 11, and got my first doctorate at 16.”

Unable to process this, Amy could only furrow her brow. “What? How did you end up a sergeant in the LAPD then?” she blurted out. “I mean… if you went to college at _that_ age, you must have been some sort of wunderkind. Why aren’t you working in the hard sciences then?” 

Sergeant Cooper sighed deeply.

“That was always my plan, studying string theory or dark matter at an institution such as Caltech, but things happened,” he said. “Your priorities change when the imbeciles at Galveston PD are unable to find the gang who murdered your grandfather, and were responsible for your father’s death as well.”

The silence around them was deafening. Amy swallowed thickly. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she whispered.

“Thank you,” Sergeant Cooper said drily. “I was too young to really understand what was going on at the time of my grandfather’s murder. My father taught me how to shoot, and I was told always to be careful when out and about. The police didn’t care much about the passing of a government official, and the gang had made it look like an accident.”

He kept on looking at the building in front of them as he recounted what had happened. He appeared almost cold and detached.

“My father conducted his own investigation in secret, and he paid for it with his life. The official cause of death was determined to be heart failure due to obesity, but I have always been convinced that it was the work of the same men who murdered Pop-Pop. Dad was getting too close with his amateur investigation. They probably poisoned either his secret beer stash, or his food. I read the autopsy report, they weren’t thorough at all.”

Amy didn’t really know what to say.

Sergeant Cooper exhaled. “So, after I got my PhD, I declined all offers of doing another doctorate in Germany or take up a job at UCLA or the University of Houston. Instead I decided that if the Galveston PD wasn’t going to bring those criminals to justice, I would.”

“And, did you?” Amy asked, slightly breathless.

“Not yet,” he answered disdainfully. “The trail led me to California, so I transferred here a few years ago.”

Almost afraid to hear the truth, Amy couldn’t help but press on. “Why would someone murder your grandfather?”

Sergeant Cooper shrugged. “He worked for the municipality. From what I managed to find out years later, I would have to assume he denied a couple of permit requests and managed to piss someone off a little too much. Meemaw doesn’t like to talk about it, but from what I did get out of her, the men had been threatening him for a few weeks before he died.”

“What happened?” Amy asked softly.

“They messed with his car; his breaks weren’t working and he hit a tree head-on when he tried to avoid hitting a passing pedestrian. He died on the spot.”

Amy felt her heart constrict. “I’m so sorry. And all that for a denied permit? That’s insane.”

Sergeant Cooper shook his head. “The permit was needed to cover up a much bigger operation, that much was clear. Dad managed to find out quite a bit, in his own amateur investigation.”

“Do you think you’ll ever find the men responsible?” Amy asked.

“I don’t know. But I do have a fulfilling life now, doing what I do. Working as a detective has made it possible for me to make sure other people won’t die in vain like Pop-Pop and Dad. It is my job to bring the criminals who cause pain to other families to justice. I don’t want to see other people go through what my family went through.”

Amy watched him in wonder. She swallowed thickly, there was a sudden lump in her throat.

“You don’t regret not going into the hard sciences?” Amy asked. It seemed like such a waste; a boy genius getting his first doctorate at such a young age abandoning it all for police work.

“Sometimes I do, but when I’m able to bring justice to innocent victims, I’m reminded why I chose to abandon the sciences,” he replied. “And who knows, maybe I’ll get back into physics when I’m older. I don’t really want to chase criminals at age 50.”

Amy gave him a small smile. “You must have helped countless of people, doing what you do,” she said softly.

Sergeant Cooper nodded solemnly. “I wish I would have been able to solve every case. I hate it when I can’t figure a case out… We’ll find out who took Ricky and has it out for you, Amy. I promise,” he gave her a heated look. Amy’s stomach swooped.

“Okay,” she whispered, blushing under his gaze.

“If I hadn’t been in this undercover operation, I think I would have solved it by now,” he continued. “Leonard is my best friend, but he isn’t as quick with the clues as I am.”

Something suddenly dawned on Amy.

“Was it because of your background in science that you volunteered to be my fake boyfriend?” she asked – for some reason she was afraid of the answer.

All this time she had held on to the thought that maybe he had been into her from the second he saw her, and therefor figured this was a great way to be close to her. But hadn’t Gablehauser said that Sergeant Cooper had specific qualities that would have been helpful in her case? What else could he have meant?

“That was what I told Gablehauser, yes,” he whispered in answer. 

Sergeant Cooper stared at her. Amy swallowed again, her throat was way too dry.

“But it wasn’t the actual reason?” Amy said quietly, only daring to hope now.

His eyes roamed over her face, and his hand reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers danced over her neck where her pulse had spiked up.

“You riled me up for some reason, and I wanted to see if I could do the same to you,” he mumbled, and he was leaning into her.

Amy stopped breathing.

“I think I was successful, wasn’t I?” he breathed against her lips, and Amy moaned pathetically. She could just see him smirk obnoxiously, before his mouth covered hers in a heated kiss.

**To be continued**


	25. The Unsolicited Help

**Chapter 24**

**The Unsolicited Help**

Amy groaned softly as the thrills moved through her immediately. Sergeant Cooper grasped her face and tilted her head so he was able to coax her mouth open. She met his tongue between their opened mouths, and her hands moved on their own accord.

He moaned into her mouth as she pawed at him, her hands holding his face against hers, desperate to keep him close. Sergeant Cooper didn’t seem to mind; his fingers had woven into her hair now, and his other hand was on her thigh.

Amy wondered how it was possible that they weren’t at each other _all the time_ when they were alone. It seemed like such a waste that they weren’t. They were great at this; the soft and sensuous kisses, the brushes of their tongues against each other that caused her heartrate to quicken, the tiny exhales from his nose onto her cheek.

His hand on her thigh caressed her skin through her tights and moved upwards, and Amy moaned. She could feel the arousal accumulate between her legs from just this small amount of contact. Sergeant Cooper took her moan as a sign of encouragement, and moved his hand higher determinedly.

Amy’s heart was beating rapidly in her chest, and she was tense with anticipation. They were in a parked car, and on some sort of surveillance for his job, for crying out loud.

But she wanted him.

And didn’t he sort of say just now that he wanted her too?

Sergeant Cooper pulled back from her face and his eyes gazed at hers for a second before he groaned and attacked her neck with his mouth. Amy cried out softly, grasping his t-shirt with two hands, pulling him closer.

She was panting softly, everything around her forgotten – the investigation, the stake-out, the boundaries between them. All that she could focus on was Sergeant Cooper’s mouth on her neck, lavishing her skin with kisses and tiny bites, the hand on the back of her head holding her close and his other hand on her upper thigh.

Amy couldn’t help but spread her legs for him a little bit, and Sergeant Cooper was no novice.

She had to be radiating heat between her legs for sure, because she could hear him murmur ‘ _Jesus’_ under his breath. She had no time to be self-conscious or embarrassed however, since his hand was between her legs now, stroking her over her panties and tights with determination and confidence.

Amy gasped.

“God, I wanna feel you,” Sergeant Cooper panted in her ear. His fingers were rubbing her in circles, the tingles moved through her. Amy nodded in agreement: she wanted him to feel her too.

She was about to throw caution in the wind and just pull her tights and underwear down in the driver’s seat of her car, when big lights illuminated the windshield of the car.

Sergeant Cooper was off her in an instant, and he was pushing her down and out of sight. Amy looked up at him apprehensively, he seemed to be scanning their surroundings.

“Stay down,” he muttered. She could hear the now tell-tale clicks of Sergeant Cooper loading a gun. Amy could only lay low, frozen in shock and fear. They had been on the verge of something – sex even? – in her car and completely forgotten about the real reason they were there.

Amy was looking at the floor of her car, and she realised she really needed to vacuum more often. She could hear Sergeant Cooper fumble around, his breathing still elevated. A telephone line rung faintly.

_“Hello?”_

“Cooper requesting back-up,” he said, rattling off the coordinates of their location. “I’m in a unmarked silver car with a civilian. Possible drug activity taking place.”

_“Roger that, Sarge. Winters and Miller are a block away. Sending them to your location.”_

“Copy that.”

Amy stared at him. The night was turning out to be a lot scarier than she had thought it would be.

“Amy,” Sergeant Cooper said softly but urgently. Amy looked up and met his determined stare. “I’m going to exit the vehicle when the back-up gets here, and I want you to lock the doors and drive away. Go to the station, I’ll meet you back there.”

She nodded mutely. She could do that. “Alright.”

Outside, she could hear the doors of a car slam closed. A rap sounded at her window. Amy squeaked involuntarily; her heartrate picked up.

“Criminals don’t knock, love,” Sergeant Cooper chuckled softly. Amy gave him an unamused look, but her heart skipped a beat when she saw the way he looked at her.

“I’ll meet you back at the station,” he repeated, his hand holding onto her jaw.

“Yes,” Amy mumbled. There were two officers probably watching them from the window, she felt looked at.

Sergeant Cooper leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Amy’s eyes fluttered shut.

“I’ll be safe.”

* * *

Amy didn’t really remember the drive to the precinct, but she found herself sitting at Sergeant Cooper’s desk with a cup of tea. There were no familiar faces around, and she somehow wished for Penny’s company. It had been Penny who had easily convinced her to come to the station that weekend, and even though she regretted her spineless behaviour, she could really use someone to talk to right now.

“Doctor Fowler,” Detective Winkle greeted her in surprise. “What brings you here? Weren’t you out with the sarge tonight?”

“I was,” Amy answered, “but something was happening at the warehouse, and it was better that I left.”

Detective Winkle nodded. “It was better if you hadn’t been there at all, but I can’t really go against my superior officer,” she said. Amy furrowed her brow, but decided not to question it. She hadn’t spoken to Detective Winkle in days – not since that incident with the wire where she thought she was talking to Sergeant Cooper but wasn’t.

“Now that we run into each other, detective,” Amy started. “Do you have any news on my case? It’s been almost two weeks now that Ricky was taken and I’m really starting to worry more and more every day.”

“You would be one of the first to know if I did, Doctor Fowler,” Detective Winkle gave her an apologetic smile which was obviously practiced.

“Where have you been looking, if you don’t mind me asking?” Amy pried. “Capuchins are popular on the black markets, since they’re easily trained to do tricks and such. Have you looked around Reddit? Or the dark web?”

“We’ve been doing the best we can, Doctor Fowler. This isn’t the first time an exotic animal goes missing."

That really wasn’t an answer to Amy’s question. “Well, of course you’re doing the best you can. I wasn’t doubting that in the slightest. I was just thinking, that maybe I could help you along with –“

“Doctor Fowler,” Detective Winkle interrupted her, “I understand that getting special treatment from Sergeant Cooper gave you the impression that you can give your opinion at any time, but I work alone or with my fellow detectives.”

Amy balked back. “I just meant that –“

Detective Winkle gave her a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“I don’t tell you how to do your job, Doctor Fowler. I’d appreciate it if you don’t tell me how to mine,” Detective Winkle said pointedly, and turned around to leave without another word.

Amy gaped at her retreating back. She hadn’t meant to overstep her bounds, she had only intended to help. This detective Winkle appeared to either dislike her, or dislike the way Sergeant Cooper treated her. She wasn’t getting _that_ much special treatment, was she?

Amy looked away from Detective Winkle’s back, and she tried to divert her thoughts. There wasn’t really much to do in a police precinct when she wasn’t working there or talking to anyone. The framed photograph on the sergeant’s desk caught her eye.

Upon closer inspection, it was definitely a picture of Sergeant Cooper with his grandparents. Amy looked at the older man in it; he was looking lovingly at his wife and his grandson. She wondered if he was being threatened at that time already.

Her mind drifted back to their conversation in the car. She had been wondering about his past, and especially his background in science since she first noticed he seemed a little too interested in her work and a little too interested in reading physics magazines. Never had she expected him to have a doctorate in physics.

Especially because he kept calling her ‘Miss’ instead of ‘Doctor’ when they first met. But maybe that had just been his way of _riling her up._

Her face flushed with heat as she recalled the turn their conversation had taken. _He wanted her._ Amy thought back to how he had kissed her, with abandon and pent up frustration. No man had ever kissed her like that. Or made her feel so much by doing so little. She shifted in his desk chair when she felt her arousal return. _Good Lord_ , she had almost undressed for him.

_“God, I wanna feel you.”_

Amy held her hands to her face, almost certain that someone would walk up to her in seconds, asking if she was feeling well because she looked feverish. That was the best possible scenario in this case: flushed with fever, instead of flushed with arousal. Especially since it was so obvious to Sergeant Cooper as well as Rajesh when she had orgasmed.

Amy took out her phone and decided to continue taking some notes there; this sudden turn her life had taken would certainly make for a great fanfic one day.

* * *

Sometime later, Sergeant Cooper and two other officers came into the precinct, escorting a few men in handcuffs. They looked huge and Amy couldn’t help but be grateful she got to leave the scene when she did.

Sergeant Cooper looked her way and she blushed immediately.

She watched him say a few words to the other officers, before he made his way over to her. Amy could only guess what the other men were thinking. Would they know she was a victim in an ongoing investigation where the sergeant played her pretend love interest? Or would they assume she was his _actual_ girlfriend?

She didn’t know which option thrilled or worried her more. Her mind was a mess.

_“God, I wanna feel you.”_

His words resounded in her head. He was walking towards her with determination, and his eyes appeared to be ablaze. Amy licked her suddenly dry lips.

“Hello,” he said when he reached her.

“Hi,” Amy said, breathless.

“I need to process some evidence and start interrogation on these men,” he said. Amy nodded.

“Come, I’ll walk you out.”

The air between them was tense as they walked to the entrance of the precinct. Amy’s heart was beating a mile a minute and she wondered if she should be reaching for his hand or not. She wondered what he was thinking. Whether or not he was playing their exchange in her car on repeat in his head, like she was.

“I don’t need to be escorted then?” Amy joked softly when they stood outside by her car.

Sergeant Cooper shook his head. “No, I trust you’ll go straight home. The other time I just needed to make sure you wouldn’t go off someplace,” he said softly, his eyes kept roaming over her face – like he was cataloguing her. He smirked slightly. “Plus, I wanted to piss you off a little, like you had done to me. I’ll be informed once you arrive at your apartment anyway.”

Amy shook her head, but smiled slightly. At first she had felt like he was keeping tabs on her, but now she just felt strangely protected.

“Alright,” she whispered. She didn’t know what to do with herself now. Their time in the car had seemed like a date, where he opened up and told her about his past. It even ended with a kiss. What was she supposed to say, ‘ _I had a great time tonight, let’s do this again sometime’_?

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Sergeant Cooper said. Amy nodded.

He was looking at her with those big blue eyes again, the ones that looked through her. Was he waiting for _her_ to kiss _him_? She could always claim it was the habit of kissing him goodnight that made her do it. Amy tried to read the look in his eyes.

“Good night,” she mumbled quietly, and she raised herself on her tiptoes.

There was no need to make up excuses it seemed; Sergeant Cooper took hold of her waist almost immediately and he pulled her close as his head descended. Their lips moved over each other, less heated than before, but with an underlying tension and something else. _Desire_ , she realised.

Amy opened her mouth over his and brushed her tongue over his lips, hoping he would meet her. He did. Her blood rushed through her veins. She fisted his t-shirt with both hands again, pulling him close. She moved her whole body against him, rubbing up against him albeit just barely.

Sergeant Cooper groaned softly and he squeezed her hips firmly. He pulled back from her, his mouth shiny with her saliva. “You’d better leave before I bend you over the hood of your car,” he whispered darkly.

Amy felt the heat in her lower belly grow. She swallowed thickly. “Alright,” she breathed.

“Sweet dreams, Amy,” Sergeant Cooper said, before he turned around and walked away from her at a brisk pace.

* * *

Amy woke up groggily the next day. It had taken her ages to fall asleep, the adrenaline of the entire day keeping her on high alert. She had tried masturbating again – just to be able to fall asleep, but all that that did, was make her think back to how the realisation that she had orgasmed had appeared on Sergeant Cooper’s face.

And that in turn made her think of Rajesh calling her radiant – or something, she couldn’t even remember anymore – and the pictures Sergeant Cooper had sent her to show him. She had taken out her phone and gazed at the pictures in appreciation.

That man had practically groped her in her car, and she had loved it.

Amy couldn’t recall when she had fallen asleep eventually, but she did remember her vivid dreams, in which she was chased by a faceless girl who kept bothering her about her addiction studies, while Rajesh swooned over Sergeant Cooper in a uniform.

She woke up feeling tired and uneasy. Her mood didn’t improve at all, when she looked at her phone and saw he had texted her in the middle of the night.

_From: Sheldon  
Hi, I can’t escort you to work tomorrow – still at the station interrogating. Will pick you up in the afternoon. _

Not only was she not getting her habitual good morning send-off, she also felt kind of bummed that he didn’t even send her an ‘X’ or mention the night before.

* * *

Amy immerged herself in her work, anything to keep her mind of the lack of attention Sergeant Cooper was giving her. Logically, she knew he had to be asleep still – he had texted her a little over 5:00 in the morning.

But her ego was stronger than her logical thinking for some reason, and all she could do was feel a surge of anger towards him. It couldn’t have been too hard to add a simple X to that text, or maybe say something kind. Especially after their kisses the night before.

Or maybe he had gotten to his senses, and realised that it was unwise to be making out with her when they weren’t in character. Another option was that someone had seen them in the parking lot and told on him.

Amy huffed.

Even if it was one of those options, he still could have let her known in some way. She deserved as much. He couldn’t tell her to leave because he wanted to bend her over the hood of her car the one day, and then _not_ get in touch with her the next.

She stared at her screen angrily. Now even her pivot tables weren’t making sense anymore.

Amy opened another database to compare results, and a lump appeared in her throat when she saw Ricky’s name in one of the rows of data. Her anger only increased when she thought back to the conversation she had with Detective Winkle the night before.

_“I don’t tell you how to do your job, Doctor Fowler. I’d appreciate it if you don’t tell me how to mine.”_

Amy closed her Excel-sheet, and opened Google in incognito mode.

She wouldn’t _tell_ Detective Winkle how to do her job, but she could maybe do her job _for_ her.

* * *

An hour later, Amy was knee-deep in weird forums hosted on Reddit where people would be talking in thinly veiled code about what kind of exotic animal could easily be purchased in the greater L.A. area.

The only entries about Capuchin monkeys she was able to find were over a month old, and she was slightly disappointed.

Because this person hadn’t been after Ricky at all; he had been after _her._ It would make no sense that the criminal would have researched Capuchin monkeys before the break-in. And if anything, this criminal was probably looking to get rid of Ricky, not _buy_ another monkey.

Going a different route, Amy searched for the telephone number of the Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens. She waited as the line rang in her ear.

“L.A. Zoo, how may I help you?”

“Yes, hello. This is Doctor Fowler of Caltech University, I’d like to speak to someone in your primate department please,” she said – confidence was key in these situations.

“One moment please.”

Amy waited as she was put on hold and contemplated hanging up. She could distinctly remember Sergeant Cooper telling her she was not to investigate, but really… he ought to be putting more pressure on his subordinates. Detective Winkle was obviously doing a lousy job finding her monkey.

“Doctor Simmons speaking?” a female voice answered.

“Hello, this is Doctor Fowler of Caltech University,” Amy replied. “Thank you for taking my call.”

“I wouldn’t have, if I hadn’t been given your name, Doctor Fowler. I’ve been following your research with Capuchins and chimps for years.”

Amy smiled, this was going to be easier than she had thought.

“Thank you, that’s so nice to hear. I’m actually calling with some research questions, if you have the time,” Amy made up on the spot – she really should have prepared this more.

“Absolutely.”

“I was wondering about the Capuchin colony you have at the zoo. Have any new additions arrived lately? I know mating season isn’t the appropriate amount of months ago yet, but you know how those monkeys are. Sometimes they’re at it like rabbits,” she laughed at her own joke.

Doctor Simmons laughed along with her. “We don’t have any babies yet, no. But it’s funny you should mention new arrivals…”

Amy felt ice run through her veins. “Oh?”

“Yes, not too long ago I received another phone call asking about the monkeys we have, and how we get them. It was a strange question. I mean, obviously we work with the Species Survival Plan to ensure a diverse population of all our animals, anyone could have found that information online.”

“Was this man interested in a specific subspecies of primates?”

“It was a woman, actually. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, but now that you mention it… It’s coming back to me.”

It was too much of a coincidence.

Amy’s brain was going a mile a minute. Should she call Sergeant Cooper? Or just anyone at the precinct? Maybe they would be able to trace the call back – if Doctor Simmons could remember when the call had taken place…

Amy opened her mouth to thank Doctor Simmons for her information, when her office phone rang, disrupting her thoughts.

“My other phone is ringing, I’m sorry, I have to take that,” Amy said apologetically.

“It’s alright. It was a pleasure talking to you, Doctor.”

“And you,” Amy said hastily before she hung up and moved to her office phone.

She panted slightly as she answered. “Hello?”

“Doctor Fowler,” her heart skipped a beat when she recognized Sergeant Cooper’s voice. He didn’t sound at all happy to speak to her, though.

“What part of _‘you will help us with the investigation, but you will not investigate on your own’_ didn’t you understand?”

**To be continued**


	26. The Fall Out

**Chapter 25**

**The Fall Out**

Amy scoffed.

“I wasn’t _investigating,_ ” she lied, and her eyed shifted to the camera she knew was situated in the corner of her lab. While incognito mode on her laptop would shield the research she had been doing from the bugs Wolowitz had inevitably installed, the microphones would have been able to pick up her conversation with Doctor Simmons easily.

“Don’t lie to me, Amy,” Sergeant Cooper hissed. “Stop what you’re doing this instant, and we will discuss this later.”

Amy hung up and glared at the camera. She was hoping he was able to see her – or that he was sending one of his detectives to the L.A. Zoo at least. She had uncovered a lead, and things were finally looking up.

Investigation-wise, that is.

She didn’t think Sergeant Cooper would be giving her any kisses any time soon; virtual or otherwise.

* * *

Sergeant Cooper was shooting daggers with his eyes as he entered her lab later in the afternoon. He shut the door behind him; a clear indicator that they wouldn’t be seen or overheard by anyone out in the hallway.

It also meant that he eliminated any reason to kiss her in greeting.

“Well, what do you have to say for yourself, Doctor Fowler?” he said, as if speaking to a child.

Amy glared at him. “I think you should be thanking me, Sergeant, for handing one of your detectives a solid lead in this case,” she said pointedly. “I won’t tell you how to do your job, but I think Detective Winkle hasn’t been my case her all.”

“If you have a problem with something Detective Winkle has or hasn’t done, you can take it up with her superior officer; either me or Captain Gablehauser,” Sergeant Cooper snapped. “It is _no_ reason whatsoever to be taking matters into your own hands and doing some amateur investigating yourself.”

Amy crossed her arms. “If your father can do his own investigation, why can’t I?”

Sergeant Cooper’s eyes darkened.

“I’m not going to dignify this with an answer,” he said lowly. “Now, come along. I’m taking you home. Don’t you even _think_ about leaving your apartment or doing any more investigating when you’re at home.”

Amy grabbed her coat and followed him out of the door. “Fine.”

Sergeant Cooper took hold of her hand and pulled her with him through the halls of Caltech, his grip was bruising and unrelenting. Amy had to jog a little to keep up with him. She wondered why he bothered with the handholding; he wasn’t masking his anger at all with the way his face seemed set in a murderous expression.

Once in her car, Amy was surprised to see he waited almost a full two minutes before he brought it up.

“Do you have any idea… _any idea,_ ” he started slowly, “what kind of a risk I took, when I decided to trust you while you were unable to provide just a _shred_ of alibi in regards to your whereabouts on the night of the break-in?”

Her heart skipped a beat.

“I had to defend my decision to Gablehauser, while you sat at my desk that Saturday,” he continued. “No one could vouch for you, and while your motive – the bored-out, fiction-obsessed silent young woman who wanted to spice up her life – was slim, it wouldn’t have been the first time that the person who called in the crime had done the crime as well.”

Amy glanced at him fleetingly, but tried to focus on the road as much as possible.

“So, when Gablehauser suggested you’d need surveillance, I told him I’d do it. Your emotional response when I suggested you did something to Ricky yourself seemed genuine, and I believed you. But I believed you as well, when you said you wouldn’t leave your apartment when I ordered you to, and I also believed I had been clear enough when I told you _not to investigate on your own._ ”

Amy felt her heart constrict in her chest. She hadn’t realised he had taken a professional risk for her. Why would he have?

“When I spoke to Detective Winkle last night, she wasn’t open to any of my suggestions,” Amy said quietly, knowing full well that he was right in his berating. “And well… I got to thinking about Ricky and I’m just worried about him, you know; it’s been almost two weeks since he went missing. I thought maybe the criminal would have called the zoo. It would make sense. They have a large colony of Capuchins.”

Sergeant Cooper sighed. “Whether your investigation made sense or not, is irrelevant, Amy,” he said. “I can’t have you go around investigating on your own. You’re not trained – and it’s also insulting to my detectives that you decided to do their job for them.”

Amy had arrived at her apartment by now.

She turned to look at him. Sergeant Cooper looked tired and angry. She swallowed thickly. “I wasn’t trying to undermine your detectives. I’m just worried about my monkey.”

Sergeant Cooper closed his eyes and breathed out again. “I want to believe you, Amy. But frankly, I don’t know what to believe anymore when it comes to you. I’ve told you before I need to be able to trust you when it comes to the investigation. You going rogue like this… that causes the exact opposite.”

“Sorry,” Amy whispered – meaning it.

Sergeant Cooper unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door; he didn’t look at her as he exited her car. “I’ll have someone else escort you to work tomorrow.”

Amy watched him leave.

* * *

The next day Amy busied herself with her research. She wasn’t really able to concentrate though; her mind kept drifting back to the conversation she had had with Sergeant Cooper the day before.

She would much rather have the anger he had had towards her when she had come to the precinct than this disappointed, defeated demeanour he had the day before.

She had let him down. And she felt incredibly bad about it. The officer who escorted her to work had tried to engage her in small talk, and she hadn’t even bothered to respond.

Just when she was wondering whether or not to call him – or do the cowardly thing and send him a text message instead – when her phone rang. It was a blocked number, and before she answered she checked whether or not the door to her lab was closed.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Doctor Fowler, it’s Leonard,” Detective Hofstadter sounded in her ear. Amy’s heart skipped a beat – perhaps Detective Hofstadter and Winkle had followed up on her lead and called with good news about Ricky.

“Hi,” she replied, breathless.

“So, ehm… I wanted to ask you to come to the station tonight, so we can talk things through for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“The banquet at Mrs. Latham’s house? We wanted to talk strategy. We’ve checked the attendees, and almost the entire faculty will be going. Leslie and I think the criminal will be among them. So, tonight, we wanted to go over the logistics. How to wire you in a dress, where to keep your gun, that sort of thing. As well as conversation starters and what to say, what not the say. You know the drill.”

Amy nodded to herself, it all sounded like a scene out of a James Bond movie. “Hm, I guess. But I thought you and Detective Winkle had interviewed almost everyone who had access to the building?” 

“We did,” Detective Hofstadter said. “But people lie to detectives. And in a party setting with alcohol being served, people tend to loosen up. Chances are they will let something slip unintentionally.”

“Alright,” Amy mumbled. She was sort of nervous already. “Will Sergeant Cooper be there tonight?”

There was an awkward pause at the other end of the line.

“I think he’s otherwise engaged tonight, but I’m sure he will check in later.”

It sounded like Detective Hofstadter was trying to console her somehow, and Amy felt her stomach constrict again. Surely her attempted investigation wasn’t _that_ big a deal to be completely ignored, was it?

* * *

Amy’s head was spinning with all the information she had gotten in a single evening.

Detectives Winkle and Hofstadter had left her by herself in the briefing room of the precinct for a minute after they had discussed almost every possible scenario that could take place the following day.

Amy looked at her notes again. It seemed Detective Winkle and Hofstadter _had_ been working harder than she had thought.

Detective Winkle had been short with her, but had shown her a slide show of all kinds of possible suspects: some of them colleagues, others people she had only seen in passing. President Siebert was among them still, as well as a red haired woman Amy had never seen before. _Emily Sweeney._ The slideshow ended with a couple of students with their student numbers listed next to their names.

“Why would any student be attending the banquet?” Amy had asked, somewhat confused.

Detective Winkle had rolled her eyes – Amy guessed she was still a little pissed off about her suggestions from the night before – and spoken to her in an overly enunciated voice. “ _Because_ , Mrs Latham invited them. They’re at the top of their classes, so very promising for future break-throughs and therefore money.”

“Okay, but how does that make them suspicious?”

“They’re all vegan and part of a student association focussing on animal rights. And since you experiment on animals, and your monkey was taken – we’ve been looking into the possibility that the criminal might be working for a bigger organisation, seeking to liberate incarcerated animals.”

Amy had been silent as she thought it through. It was a scenario she hadn’t thought about much. Sure, she received unkind e-mails from time to time from angry people judging her for her experiments, but none of them had ever been threatening.

She hadn’t even bothered to mention them to Sergeant Cooper at that time.

She cursed herself for her own naiveté now. It turned out Detective Winkle was smarter than she had given her credit for, and the remorse she felt the evening prior returned full force. Amy shot a timid smile in Detective Winkle’s direction.

“I hadn’t thought about that angle at all. Great work, Detective,” she said quietly. Detective Winkle looked surprised for a second, but quickly changed her face into a blank impression.

“You’ll be happy to know we’re also looking into the phone call Doctor Simmons of the L.A. Zoo received,” she supplied.

“Thank you,” Amy said softly. Detective Winkle nodded firmly. It seemed like they had reached some sort of truce.

Detective Hofstadter proceeded to tell her about the meeting with Mrs Latham he had had to discuss the security measures, and informed her that undercover agents would be attending her party as well. According to Detective Hofstadter, she hadn’t been pleased to have her house as a setting for a police investigation. Somehow, he had been able to persuade her. Whatever that meant.

The entire evening was practically scripted out, and they had listed the possible suspects they wanted Amy to talk to; and which ones to stay away from. For hours they had talked her through almost every possible thing that could be happening; from gun fights, to ugly, drunken brawls. Her senses were already on full alert.

Even though they hadn’t spoken in a day, Sergeant Cooper’s name was still listed as a part of her security detail. For a second she had wondered if he had taken himself off the investigation altogether.

Amy wondered again if she should reach out to him, when the door to the briefing room opened. Amy looked up and felt a wave of warmth wash over her when she looked into Sergeant Cooper’s eyes.

He was dressed in his regular uniform, and Amy couldn’t help but look him over appreciatively. It felt almost naughty to do so, considering the chilly state their relationship – if one could call it that – was in.

“Hi,” Amy mumbled.

Sergeant Cooper looked at her stoically. “Hello.”

Amy held her breath. She hadn’t seen him all day, and it was absurd but she had _missed_ him. Just how unbelievably fast had she gotten used to seeing him multiple times a day?

“Hofstadter informed me that he and Winkle have talked you through the plans for tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll come by your apartment with Penny beforehand.”

“Why?” Amy asked nonplussed.

Sergeant Cooper looked taken aback. “Why?” he repeated, “what do you mean _why_? I’ll be escorting you, of course.”

Amy felt butterflies dance around in her belly; he would still be there with her the next day. Her mind immediately envisioned the two of them in a ball room; his hand probably on her lower back, protecting her from danger.

“I mean, why are you bringing Penny?” she asked, taking herself back to the present.

“You’ll need help with putting on the wire in whatever dress you plan on wearing,” he said, and Amy’s stomach dropped.

“Oh,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound too defeated. He had asked Penny to help her; that obviously meant he didn’t want to help her with the wire himself. Her mind flashed back to the times he had helped her put on the wire, and she felt herself get hot immediately.

“I don’t need _Penny_ to help me with the wire, though,” she said softly in a last attempt to tell him that she wouldn’t mind having _him_ help her with it.

“She was the only woman available, with Detective Winkle in the surveillance van at the site,” Sergeant Cooper answered firmly. “Do you have any other questions about the mission tomorrow?”

He was acting like a professional policeman, and it bothered Amy greatly that he was pretending like there was nothing going on between them at all.

“No, I don’t. I think I’m as ready as I can be,” she said. If he was going to pretend that their fake kisses hadn’t stopped being fake a long time ago, and that they hadn’t been growing towards one another the last two weeks, then so was she.

“Alright,” Sergeant Cooper regarded her. “Then I suggest you go home and rest as much as you can. It’s going to be long night tomorrow.”

* * *

Amy took the sergeant’s advice to heart and took the day off the following day. She had been way too anxious to sleep properly. Her dreams had been a mess of gunfights, fistfights and heated looks between herself and Sergeant Cooper, which ended in kisses against walls.

She had woken up tired and aroused.

After texting Detective Hofstadter to let him know she would be working from home instead of the office and needed no one to escort her to work – she figured Sergeant Cooper wasn’t too occupied with her case anymore after all – she had tried to get some more sleep, but to no avail. 

It was later in the afternoon when her phone rang. Amy had been mindlessly flipping through some channels on her TV and was almost startled by the sudden sound.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Amy?” it was a woman’s voice, and Amy didn’t recognize it at first. Her heartrate increased instantly – who would be calling her? Her thoughts immediately went to the unknown woman who had called the L.A. Zoo as well.

“Yes?” she replied hesitantly, her eyes flickered to the camera she knew was mounted in a corner of the room. Someone had to be watching, or at least listening, along.

“It’s Penny!” the second she started talking again, Amy recognized her bubbly tone of voice.

“Oh, hi,” she replied, somewhat relieved.

“Hey!” Penny said. “So, Sheldon tells me you need help getting ready for the party tonight. I think you would look _great_ with your hair curled… So, do you have a curling iron, or do I need to bring mine?”

* * *

Penny had appeared at her doorstep, a trolley filled with what Amy could only assume were hair products and make-up. Amy busied herself with putting clear nail polish on her nails while Penny made soft curls in her hair using a hot curling iron.

“So, I’m dying to know,” Penny said after a grand total of fifteen minutes, “what’s going on with you and Sheldon?”

Figuring there was no need to be omitting the truth, and somehow hoping he might be listening along to the audio feed from her apartment, Amy decided to be honest.

“I don’t really know right now, to be honest,” she mumbled. “At first I thought we were slowly moving towards something, you know… we were opening up to each other, about our pasts and families and stuff. But I screwed up big time, trying to investigate on my own.”

“Hm…” Penny hummed, all the while working on her hair. “I had a feeling something had happened. I mean, Sheldon was unnecessarily short with me and Leonard the last couple of days. He’ll come round, I’m sure.”

Amy shrugged, and looked at her hands as she answered. “I’m not so sure, I mean, just look at today. He asked _you_ to come and help me with the wire and the dress, while he was more than willing to be the one helping me with that the last few times I had to wear a wire to spy on Siebert.”

Penny guffawed. “Hold up! _He_ helped you with the wire?! What a dog…”

Amy felt her face heat up.

“What? He normally doesn’t do that?” she asked quietly.

“I have a feeling he does a lot of things for you he normally doesn’t do,” Penny said conspiratorially, throwing her a wink for good measure. “God, I miss the _Shamy After Dark_ sessions I used to listen to with Leonard when the two of you were sharing that hotel room. I mean, the way Sheldon tricked you into pretending to be a couple on a romantic weekend away while in that hotel room…. You gotta admit, that was a pretty smooth move.”

Amy stared at Penny. “There could have been microphones in that room,” she whispered, feeling foolish. “I mean at that time, we still suspected Siebert had arranged that room for me personally.”

Penny shrugged. “Let’s just say I was surprised how easily the two of you managed to fall into this domestic, flirty couple on a weekend away. I’ve seen Sheldon do undercover work before, and while he’s always good at the play-acting, there’s just some things you can’t fake.”

“Like what?” Amy hoped she didn’t sound _too_ interested.

Penny smirked. “Those morning erections, for one.”

* * *

Amy’s cleavage was lower than she was used to, but it was a special occasion and when she had bought the teal dress and matching bolero ensemble, she couldn’t have predicted that she would have to conceal a microphone between her breasts.

Penny had had a no-nonsense attitude as she taped the wire to her back and chest, while Amy had been flushed with embarrassment to be standing topless in front of another woman.

“There,” Penny said, as she zipped Amy up. “It’s a good thing you have this sort of jacket thing to go with it, it shields the wires on your back nicely.”

Amy could only nod. She felt extremely nervous. Not only was she scared of what might happen at the banquet, on top of that she felt this anticipation in her lower belly of seeing Sergeant Cooper. And him seeing her like this.

“You look great, honey,” Penny said, giving Amy a reassuring smile. “I think Sheldon will have a hard time focussing on his job with you dressed like this.”

As if he knew they were talking about him, a knock sounded at her door.

“It’s me,” Sergeant Cooper called through the door.

She and Penny shared a look. “I’ll get the door and grab my stuff, I think we should be leaving quickly,” Penny said, and she left Amy in her bedroom.

Amy was busy looking at her reflection, marvelling how she looked like a dressier version of herself, but still felt really comfortable in her outfit. She could hear Penny open the door. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the tone of Penny’s voice sounded appreciative. Amy looked up at the sound of the sergeant clearing his throat from her bedroom’s doorway.

He was wearing a tuxedo, and he looked tall and handsome. Amy licked her lips at the sight.

“Hi,” she breathed.

“Hello,” Sergeant Cooper replied, his voice void of emotion. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, I believe so. Penny helped me with the wire. The mic is hidden here,” she vaguely mentioned to her cleavage. Sergeant Cooper followed the movements of her hand and quickly averted his gaze.

“And your gun? Strapped to your leg?” he asked.

“Oh!” Amy exclaimed. “No! We were so busy chatting and doing my hair that I completely forgot.”

She looked in the vicinity her bed, where the holster and her gun lay on her bedside table.

“We should have left ten minutes ago, I was much later than I anticipated… Come, take a seat,” Sergeant Cooper said, as he stalked to her bedside table, grabbing the items from her nightstand.

Amy stood frozen in place. Was he suggesting helping her strap the gun to her leg? After he had made it clear that he didn’t want to touch her before?

Sergeant Cooper gave her an exasperated look. “Amy!” he snapped.

She snapped out of her indecisive state, and plonked down on her bed. “Lift your dress,” Sergeant Cooper ordered softly, as he lowered himself on his haunches in front of her.

Amy’s hands trembled as she lifted her dress higher and higher, until almost all of her thighs was visible to the sergeant’s eyes. His hands were warm on her right knee, and he caressed her skin softly before he grabbed the holster and fashioned it around the bare skin of her thigh.

Amy felt like she couldn’t breathe.

Sergeant Cooper looked up from his hands, and their eyes locked. “It may feel too tight,” he mumbled, and he tightened the strap as he spoke, “but we can’t have it falling down your leg as you walk.”

Amy nodded mutely. The tips of his fingers were barely grazing the skin surrounding the holster, and it made her nerves stand on end.

“Stand up, let’s see if it stays in place,” Sergeant Cooper said.

It all felt awfully intimate, standing in front of him like this. She, holding up her dress and baring her legs to him. He, crouched down on his knees, with his face much closer to her groin than any face had ever been, his hands on her legs.

“It seems secure,” he muttered. He let go of her leg with one hand and grabbed the gun from her bed. Amy wondered if it was necessary for him to be holding onto the inside of her leg with his other hand; she was getting aroused from his minimal touches, and he had to be able to tell.

Sergeant Cooper raised himself to his full height after he holstered her gun and briefly caressed the sensitive skin of the inside of her thigh again – Amy gasped.

His pupils were dark and bigger than a few minutes before. He cleared his throat. “Let’s go.”

**To be continued**


	27. The Other Man

**Chapter 26**

**The Other Man**

Neither Amy nor Sergeant Cooper said much on their way to the banquet; which Amy thought was rather unwise, considering they hadn’t discussed the plan for the evening between the two of them at all. But even if she had wanted to, she wouldn’t have been able to. Her mind was still a mess and her panties felt damp against her skin.

All because Sergeant Cooper had been on his knees in front of her, helping her holster her gun.

“So,” Penny said from the driver’s seat. “Are we looking forward to this evening?”

“We’ll be working, Penny,” Sergeant Cooper said firmly. “Hopefully the criminal will slip up and show himself, and then we can put this whole nonsense behind us.”

Amy averted her gaze. Apparently she was the only one who wanted the awkward tension between them to be over. It all seemed like Sergeant Cooper was really done with whatever it had been that had been happening between them, despite what Penny thought.

“I just hope I won’t have to put any of my training to use tonight,” Amy muttered.

Sergeant Cooper turned to look at her; it was the first time he had looked her way since they had left her in her bedroom, and Amy’s heart fluttered in her chest.

“You won’t, I’ll be by your side the entire evening,” he said, holding her gaze steadily.

Amy swallowed thickly. It would just be her luck that this criminal was able to corner her at that single second when Sergeant Cooper would be looking the other way.

“I just want it to be over.”

She didn’t even know what she was referring to anymore.

* * *

_“We’ve got multiple men inside, mingling with guests,”_ Detective Winkle’s voice sounded in her ear as they mounted the steps to Mrs Latham’s mansion.

If Amy hadn’t been overly tense, she would have been able to appreciate the elaborate mansion. It seemed insanely big, larger than the building she worked in at the university. Somehow she was reminded of the board game Clue she used to play as a child, with rooms galore and one for every single activity.

“Roger that,” Sergeant Cooper mumbled beside her, and his voice echoed in the earpiece in her ear. “Anything suspicious so far?”

“ _No sir, nothing yet. Those students seem to be fashionably late or no-shows. Doctor Koothrappali and his date arrived a few minutes ago, as did the two researchers from the top floor.”_

“We’ll go find them in a bit,” Sergeant Cooper muttered, and Amy stiffened when she felt his hand on her lower back. “We’ll mingle with some others first, as not to raise suspicions.” 

_“You’re the boss,”_ Detective Winkle sounded condescending to her ears, but Sergeant Cooper either didn’t notice, or didn’t care.

“Are you ready?” he asked as he turned to Amy. He was standing really close, and there was a lot she wanted to say – or wished she had said in the car or during their time alone in her bedroom.

She just nodded instead. “Yes.”

Sergeant Cooper held her gaze for another second, before he steered her towards some sort of big ballroom, where waiters were walking around with trays filled with champagne flutes. Amy looked at them longingly, some alcohol would really calm her nerves. She remembered her briefing from the night before: no alcohol. It would only slow her response time.

“Excuse me, do you have a non-alcoholic option as well?” Sergeant Cooper asked the waiter closest to him, as if he sensed her desire for them.

Seconds later, she and Sergeant Cooper were both nipping their non-alcoholic drinks as they looked around the room. The air between them was incredibly tense and awkward.

“So, busy day today?” Amy asked, in a way to diffuse the tension between them.

“Yes,” Sergeant Cooper just said, he was looking out into the crowd, and turned to her. “Heads up, it’s President Siebert.”

“What do we do?” Amy mumbled, turning to avoid the eyes of the president of the university coming their way.

Sergeant Cooper gave her the same disarming, fake smile he had given her neighbour once. “We act like the couple he thinks we are, love,” he said softly.

Amy opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted by President Siebert. “Doctor Fowler!” he boomed, “and Mister Tucker as well, good evening.”

“Sir,” Sergeant Cooper nodded at him. Amy expected him to be holding out his right hand for him to shake, but it remained on Amy’s lower back.

“Good evening, President Siebert,” Amy gave him a smile. She had stopped suspecting him after the whole cheating-with-his-secretary-thing had come to light, but he had been on the list of suspects she had gone through with Detective Winkle the night before.

“How are we enjoying ourselves this evening?” he asked jovially. “It would please me very much to have you talk to a few of the attending hot shots, Doctor Fowler… I know a lot of people hate to kiss butt to raise money for their research, but it’s for a good cause. Although, you remember that, don’t you? I seem to recall you being fairly close to that man from Saudi Arabia. What was his name again, Farooq? Fayaz?”

“Faisal,” Amy supplied, and she felt Sergeant Cooper’s hand on her back stiffen.

“Ah, yes! Well, as I was saying… if you are successful in fund-raising tonight, you might be able to replace that missing Capuchin monkey in a few weeks already!” he said.

Amy froze. “I-I-I’m not really looking to replace Ricky, sir. I still hope we’ll be able to find him.”

“I hate to break it to you, Doctor Fowler, but it has been two weeks since the break-in now, hasn’t it? I think the chances of finding that monkey are becoming slimmer by the day,” President Siebert gave Sergeant Cooper a look, as if to say ‘ _those poor women, they hold onto hope too long’._

Amy knew he was right – she had been thinking the same thing – but it was still a bitter pill to swallow to hear it from someone else.

_“We’ll get a warrant for his laptop or his phone to see if he has contacted anyone the last week who could be an accomplice to him. His secretary too,”_ Detective Hofstadter sounded in her ear.

_“I think he’s just making a fair point,”_ Detective Winkle piped up, “ _I wouldn’t necessarily find this suspicious.”_

_“This monkey comment? I would say it’s enough reason to-“_

Sergeant Cooper cleared his throat loudly, and Detective Hofstadter stopped talking immediately. “What are you suggesting, President Siebert? That my Amy should suck up to people here to get funding for her research?”

Amy blushed.

“Why, yes,” President Siebert replied. “She has proven to be very… _persuasive_ in the past.”

Sergeant Cooper’s hand fell from her lower back, and the loss of warmth there was a rude awakening. Amy stared at the president. He was heavily implying something. Something both she and Sergeant Cooper knew to be true.

“You seem to be implying that Amy should be whoring herself out for money. Is there any reason the University doesn’t fund the research themselves? I wasn’t under the impression that Caltech was in need of research funds?” Sergeant Cooper pressed.

“Well,” President Siebert mumbled awkwardly.

_“Sarge…”_ Detective Hofstadter sounded in her ear.

Amy grabbed his hand, and made him look away from the death stare he was giving the president. She squeezed his hand – he was making a scene, or about to.

“I’ll see if I can talk to someone tonight, sir. I always do like to talk about my research to non-academics,” Amy said quickly, hoping to steer the conversation to an end.

President Siebert raised his eyebrows. “Yes, as is shown by your choice of date. What was it you did again, Mister Tucker?”

_If only he knew about his PhD¸_ Amy thought with a suppressed smile.

“I’m in sales, sir. A different kind of smart is needed for that,” Sergeant Cooper replied stoically.

“Yes,” President Siebert agreed, the condescension dripping from his voice. “Well, please take my advice to heart, Doctor Fowler. After all, you managed to charm the Saudi Arabians; it shouldn’t be too hard to charm an older, well-off man.”

He turned to leave them to their own devices without another word. Amy felt the blush burn on her face.

“Perhaps we _should_ go mingle with some of the moneylenders, since you appear to have to regulate your own funding,” Sergeant Cooper said snidely. “I’d like to see your persuasive powers up close.”

Amy gaped at him. “That’s uncalled for.”

“Is it not true then?” Sergeant Cooper raised his eyebrows in defiance. Amy gave him her best glare.

She wanted to give him a piece of her mind – he had no right to be giving her such a hard time, and she was getting tired from his attitude. If he had something to say to her, he could say it upfront. Although, maybe this wasn’t the place to do it.

“What are you trying to say, _sergeant_?” she asked through gritted teeth. “That I should go look for someone who’d give me money in exchange for something?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Sergeant Cooper muttered, looking out into the crowd instead of her.

The anger moved through her body like wildfire. “Excuse me,” Amy hissed, and she stalked away from him to the makeshift bar on the other side of the room. _Screw protocol and briefings_ , she thought and flagged down the man holding a bottle of amber liquid.

“Yes?” he asked.

“I’ll have one of those please,” Amy said.

“No, she won’t,” Sergeant Cooper interjected from behind her. He appeared a little out of breath, and Amy wondered if he would have gone after her if he hadn’t seen her order an alcoholic drink.

The barman seemed awkward to be in the middle of what obviously looked like a lover’s spat.

“Don’t mind him, I can decide what I want for myself,” Amy said to the barman, and then turned to Sergeant Cooper behind her. “I don’t comment on it when you do things that don’t sit well with me, I’d appreciate it if you let me do what I want, _honey.”_

Sergeant Cooper narrowed his eyes at her. “You don’t want to mess this up, Amy,” he said, shaking his head. “If you do that, these past two weeks could be all for nothing.”

“Oh, please! It’s one drink,” Amy scoffed. “If tonight was really that important, since you’re afraid to have our work from the past weeks to be wasted, you would have been there yesterday when we discussed the plans for tonight. How am I supposed to know how to act and not blow our cover when you go off at me like you just did in front of Siebert?”

Sergeant Cooper’s eyes shifted from her face to the man behind her. “If you’ll excuse us,” he said, and he grabbed Amy’s hand and dragged her with him.

Amy followed him silently. She caught Rajesh’s eye on her way out of the room and he waved at her with a bewildered look on her face, the red haired woman next to him stared after her as well.

_“Sarge, where are you going?”_ Detective Hofstadter sounded apprehensive in her earpiece.

“Doctor Fowler and I are going to have a little talk,” Sergeant Cooper muttered angrily in response.

They had been walking down a hall way for a while now, and if Amy hadn’t been preoccupied with it all, she would have marvelled at the amount of doors they passed. Just how many different rooms did one person need?

Sergeant Cooper opened the final one at the end of the hallway, and peered inside. “This will do,” he mumbled – Amy was able to hear him just fine over the echo in her earpiece.

He pulled her into the room, which looked to be some sort of study with bookshelves lined on the walls and a chaise longue with a side table near the window. It was the kind of room someone in regency times would have had to read a book in, lounging on that chair and drinking tea. Amy felt instantly jealous of Mrs Latham.

“We’ll get back when we’re done talking, I don’t need you all listening along to this,” Sergeant Cooper held her gaze as he spoke into his wrist before he twisted on some of the buttons on his watch. He pulled out his earpiece after that.

_“That bastard cut us off!”_ Detective Winkle sounded in Amy’s ear.

Amy was about to comment on the microphone she was still wearing, and therefore still providing the detectives with a live audio feed, when Sergeant Cooper was in her personal space all of a sudden.

“It won’t really be a private conversation with you still wearing that mic,” he said, before he reached inside her dress from above and flicked the switch on the microphone between her breasts. Amy could only gasp in shock and budding arousal.

He retreated his hand much slower than necessary, his fingers grazing her breasts fleetingly.

“ _We’ve lost audio on Doctor Fowler as well.”_ Detective Hofstadter said in her ear.

Sergeant Cooper moved his gaze to her ear and brushed back her hair before he removed the earpiece from her ear. A tingle moved over her spine.

“There,” he mumbled as he turned the lock on the door behind her, not bothering to take a step back from her. “Now, we’re really alone.”

Amy crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at him. “Any reasons why you found it necessary to drag me off while I was just getting a drink?” she asked.

Sergeant Cooper’s nostrils flared. “I wasn’t there when you were briefed, but I’m sure that Hofstadter and Winkle covered the no-alcohol policy during a mission.”

Amy shrugged. “One drink won’t hurt,” she said, even though she was always a little tipsy after just half a glass, “and you were getting on my nerves. It seemed like a great way to take the edge off.”

“What a coincidence,” Sergeant Cooper muttered drily, his eyes flitted over her face. He seemed to be moving even closer.

“What?” Amy furrowed her brow.

“What is it they say? _What goes around, comes around?_ ” he asked rhetorically, “You’ve been getting on my nerves for the last two weeks, and tonight is no exception…”

Amy blinked. She didn’t _really_ know what he meant. She had already apologized for her attempted investigating, hadn’t she? What more did he want?

“I said I was sorry for the phone call to the L.A. Zoo,” she snapped. “I don’t know what more you want. Or what made you think it’s okay to insinuate I should be whoring myself out for new lab animals?”

She found herself raising her voice, and Sergeant Cooper’s jaw was set in a firm line.

“You don’t know what more I want?” he repeated incredulously. 

Amy had an inkling, but decided to keep her face as blank as she possibly could. “Enlighten me,” she challenged him.

Sergeant Cooper scoffed. “Don’t play dumb with me, Amy,” he muttered, advancing even closer to her. “You _know_ what more I want.”

Amy’s back hit the door behind her as she took a step back. Sergeant Cooper was really in her space now, and Amy held her breath in anticipation. Her stomach constricted with nerves.

“No, I don’t,” she lied.

“Of course you don’t,” Sergeant Cooper mocked. “Well, then let me tell you what it is I _don’t_ want. I don’t want to find out that you have been playing me all this time. I don’t want you to disobey me ever again. I don’t want to spend all my time thinking about you, and your dirty stories and how you touch yourself after you read them, yet here I am. And I really, _really,_ don’t want to hear another word about the men you’ve been with, because the thought of another man touching you makes my skin crawl.”

Amy gasped. His words had an instant effect on her. Her blood rushed through her veins.

“There was just one man,” Amy mumbled.

“And if it’s up to me, he will be the only other one,” Sergeant Cooper whispered heatedly.

Her stomach bottomed out. There wasn’t much she could do but accept his kiss as his mouth crashed against hers. She inhaled sharply through her nose; the oxygen was suddenly gone from her body.

Sergeant Cooper groaned against her lips, and she opened her mouth for him. His tongue swept across her lips and Amy met him between their opened mouths. He kissed her with abandon, and it made her mind blank and her knees weak. All she could do was kiss him back, and if she was honest; it had been what she wanted to do all evening.

His hands were everywhere; holding her jaw close to his one moment, and moving over her arms the next. He wasted no time caressing her breasts over the material of her dress, and Amy mewled into his mouth.

“God, Amy,” Sergeant Cooper panted when he pulled back from her. “You drive me insane.”

He drove her insane too. With worry. With desire.

She pulled his head to hers this time, and covered his mouth in a fierce kiss. Sergeant Cooper pulled her close to him, and she was pressed up against him now. She could easily feel the bulge in his pants that had been pressed up against her those times in bed.

Amy rubbed up against him shamelessly.

His hands grasped her hips firmly and he pushed her away a little. “Amy,” he mumbled, “you’d better stop that... I won’t be held accountable for my actions if you keep that up.”

Desire clouded her rational thinking. She felt even more careless than she did that evening when they had talked each other towards release while he asked her to tell him how wet she was for him, when he told her to come for him.

Amy moved into him, and boldly moved her hand to the bulge in his pants, feeling him over the slacks he wore. It felt warm and firm. He seemed to twitch under her fingers. It was fascinating and thrilling at the same time.

Sergeant Cooper groaned lowly. “I warned you,” he muttered against her lips.

He pulled her hand away from his groin and dragged her further into the room by her wrist. They kissed heatedly again, all tongue and heat and moans from the both of them. Amy wondered for a second just how far this was going to go. She didn’t have to wonder too long, it seemed.

Within minutes she found herself flat on her back, laid across the chaise longue by the window, with Sergeant Cooper looming over her. Amy stared up at him, trying to catch her breath.

He stared at her, his eyes looking at her like he had done on the day they first met and it was only now that she realised what it was that was in them. _Lust._

The way he looked at her made her speechless, and her heart beat rapidly in her chest. They weren’t just making out now, and their undercover personas were nowhere to be found. Amy swallowed thickly, her legs trembled already from what would be happening.

Sergeant Cooper was in her space, kissing her neck now, his hand grasping her breast again. “Amy,” he mumbled. He leaned back, and Amy felt the cold air on her legs as he pushed her dress up.

His right hand moved from her knee to her thigh, caressing her softly but confidently. She spread her legs subconsciously, and even though she knew what was coming; she still gasped when he touched her over her panties.

“Sheldon,” she sighed. Just the small amount of stimulation made her mind short-circuit.

His deft fingers shoved her panties aside and he groaned in her neck when he touched her without barriers. Amy moaned embarrassingly loud.

“Good Lord, you’re wet,” he grumbled in her ear, his fingers slipping through the wetness between her legs. Amy mewled pathetically, the tingles moving through her body as he brushed his fingers over her clit. Her legs shook with tremors.

“Ahh,” Amy gasped. Her hands had taken hold of his arms, squeezing his biceps as he kept rubbing her clit in firm circles.

“Like this?” he mumbled, and Amy could only groan in response. Stars seemed to burst behind her eyelids already. Had she been this high strung all this time that she was able to get close to coming within minutes?

He seemed to shift above her after and Amy hazily opened her eyes when she felt him tug down her panties. She blinked at him; he had halted tugging them down when he reached the holster strapped to her thigh.

“Are you attached to these?” he asked, while he rubbed the fabric of her panties between his fingers.

Amy shook her head negative.

The sound of ripping fabric echoed around them. Amy stared at him in shock; he balled up the ruined underwear and shoved it in his pants’ pocket. She opened her mouth to berate him; was she supposed to walk around without underwear the rest of the evening?

Her words died in her throat when he pushed her legs open with both hands and lowered himself between them.

“What are you - -“ she started, but her sentence turned into a moan as his mouth descended onto her.

He licked her over her folds, his tongue pushing inside her once, twice, before moving upwards and enveloping her clit between his lips. Amy whimpered. The pleasure she gave herself with her vibrator paled in comparison to how it felt to have him please her like this.

She was holding onto dear life, her fingers almost tearing the fabric of the chaise longue she laid on, while she moved her hips against the sergeant’s face unabashedly. He groaned against her and the vibrations increased her arousal even more.

“Oh!” Amy gasped for air.

Sergeant Cooper grumbled against her again, making her tremble with pleasure. He pushed a finger inside her, and rubbed her against her walls from the inside. Amy’s eyes shot open. The stimulation was insane.

“Nnnghh… _Sheldon,_ ” she moaned.

He hummed against her, and he held her down with his other hand as he made her reach her climax expertly. Amy’s body convulsed and she felt even more wetness gush out of her, but Sergeant Cooper seemed more than happy to lap it up.

She was still catching her breath and getting down from her high when she heard the sound of rushing fabric and a zipper lowering. Amy hazily blinked up at him.

“Oh my God, Sheldon…” she panted, “that was…” She shook her head, unable to come up with a fitting adjective.

Sergeant Cooper was looking at her heatedly, his jaw set in a tense line, but his chin was still glistening with _her._ He lowered his pants as he looked at her.

“I need to have you,” he said lowly, with his hands on the waistband of his briefs, ready to lower them.

Amy still hadn’t recovered from the intense orgasm she had just now, but she found herself nodding mutely. She needed him to have her, too.

“Okay?” Sergeant Cooper asked in clarification. Amy blinked opened her eyes, and they shifted downward to his hands, where he was holding his erection in one hand. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of him.

“Yes,” she whispered, slightly scared from the sheer size of him.

Sergeant Cooper pushed on one of her knees, opening her legs further for him. Amy looked up at his face. The lustful look he had given her before had made way for something else, but just like before she couldn’t put her finger on it.

It confused her, so she looked away to watch him lower himself between her legs instead.

His other hand grasped her face, and forced her to look up at him. Sergeant Cooper opened his mouth as if to speak, but he made no sound as he pushed into her slowly but steadily.

Amy gasped softly, the feeling of her body caving in to accommodate him caught her off guard. The way he looked at her as he entered her however, overwhelmed her.

“Oh,” she whimpered. He filled her up fully, and either it was too long ago for her to remember it accurately, or this was something else entirely. The tension between them had been accumulating like crazy the last few days.

His lips brushed hers fleetingly. “You feel amazing,” he muttered, he pulled back a little and pushed in again and Amy felt her eyes roll back in her head.

“Like you were made for me,” he grumbled, increasing his speed. “ _Fuck.”_

Amy gasped for air. He wasn’t holding back. At all.

It seemed like all she could do was focus on getting enough oxygen and not whimpering too loud as Sergeant Cooper took her like he had told her he would; rough, relentless and claiming.

It was exhilarating.

Amy looked up at him as he pushed into her, over and over again, harder each time. His hips hitting hers roughly and surely creating bruises as he did. Sergeant Cooper was gazing at her slack-jawed and intensely. Her stomach swooped from the way he looked at her.

“Jesus Christ, Amy, you don’t know how much I’ve been wanting to do this,” he grumbled lowly, he bent down and covered her mouth with his, kissing her sloppily and brushing his tongue against her lips. “Tell me how you’ve been wanting me.”

Amy moaned. “I want you,” she whispered, her voice coming out hoarse from her incessant moaning.

“Yeah?” Sergeant Cooper panted, “Good.”

Amy yelped when he pushed into her particularly roughly, hitting something deep inside her that made her almost black out. “Oh my God…” she whimpered. She couldn’t handle this much longer; her legs were trembling from holding them open, and her body had been as accommodating as possible, but she felt the beginnings of overall soreness settling in by now.

“Amy,” Sergeant Cooper groaned with a sense of urgency. “Can I come inside you?”

She mumbled incoherently, unable to really understand what he was saying. She could barely comprehend what was happening in the first place – her brain was failing her – let alone what he was saying.

“What?” she mumbled.

“Are you on birth control?” he clarified.

A surge of panic moved through her; she wasn’t. And she suddenly realized what was happening; she was having sex with the police sergeant in charge of the investigation of the break-in in her laboratory. Not just sex; mind-blowing, out of this world, amazing but _unprotected_ sex.

“No,” she whispered, her voice catching in her throat when he pushed into her a final time. He groaned in what she assumed was frustration.

Sergeant Cooper looked almost pained as he pulled out of her, and Amy felt strangely empty as he did. Her legs fell limply by her sides, exhaustion making it impossible to hold them up for a second longer.

Hands grasped her arms and she found herself being lifted into a seating position. She looked at Sergeant Cooper in confusion, but he gave her a meaningful look as he cradled the back of her head with his hand.

“Show me if you’re as good at this as you write,” he whispered, holding his erection in front of her face and her head in such a way that she couldn’t move away if she had wanted to. Amy blinked up at him.

“Suck me off,” he ordered softly.

Her tongue darted out of her lips, and she wetted her lips. _She could do this._

Sergeant Cooper didn’t want to wait any longer apparently; he pulled her head closer and Amy opened her mouth just in time for him to shove his member between her lips. Amy inhaled sharply through her nose, and she closed her eyes while she enveloped him further. She moved her head over him, taking him in further and pulling back, aided by his hand on the back of her head moving her up and down. Her tongue brushed against the underside of his member, and judging by the groans that echoed around them, she seemed to be doing something right.

“Yes,” he hissed, and the pressure on the back of her head increased. “Yesss…”

He pulsated in her mouth, and she almost pulled her head back. He erupted in her mouth, filling her with his release while he groaned her name softly. The powerful feeling coursing through her when she realized she had been successful in making him come was unexpected and thrilling. He pulled out of her, and Amy automatically moved her hand to her mouth, wiping her lips as she swallowed the bitter liquid down.

Sergeant Cooper had fallen down next to her, panting heavily, his pants still halfway down his legs. “Jesus Christ, Amy,” he sighed deeply. “You’re phenomenal.”

Amy gazed at him in silence, her heart was still racing and her mind was trying to catch up with what had happened. Her legs felt sore, and her lips felt strangely swollen and sensitive after having them wrapped around his dick. But her physical condition wasn’t really important compared to the array of feelings running through her.

_Wanton_ summed it up quite nicely. But disbelief and shock seemed to be taking the upper hand.

_Now what?_

**To be continued**


	28. The Red Envy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: contains violence

**Chapter 27**

**The Red Envy**

Amy watched Sergeant Cooper get up from the chaise longue and close his pants with some difficulty. Her mind was trying to make sense of what had just happened between them. He seemed to still be catching his breath. As if on auto pilot, Amy moved off the couch as well and lowered her dress back down to the floor. It felt strange to be fully dressed after what they had just done. Especially with a gun strapped to her leg – but without panties.

“We should be getting back,” Sergeant Cooper mumbled, as he straightened his clothes.

“Right,” Amy said. She felt clammy, and her legs were still shaking.

Sergeant Cooper was wiping his fingers and face with a wet wipe he appeared to have pulled out of his jacket pocket.

“Uhm, do you have another one of those?” she asked, almost timidly. Despite not having him finish between her legs, she felt a little gross there and a wet wipe would at least help feel a little more decent.

“I do,” Sergeant Cooper said. “But you should really be using the facilities in the ladies’ room. I’ve been informed women can contract urinary tract infections when they don’t void their bladders after sexual intercourse.”

Amy stared at him.

“Is that all you have to say?” she asked incredulously.

The sergeant blinked owlishly at her. “Well, I’m not that kind of doctor, so I can’t really claim to know how the human body works. All I know is that my twin sister used to complain about UTI’s all the time when she was going ‘round the high school’s baseball team.”

Amy shook her head. While she really wanted to find out more about this twin sister he had never mentioned before, she really had no time to get into _that_ right now. Especially since they were still on a mission.

She shouldn’t have been surprised that he would act as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened between them, yet she was. What she thought to be torrid love making just now, turned out to be some sort of tension relief instead. At least to him.

They were going to be short with each other and not address this like the other times they had kissed, it seemed. She was used to that, she reasoned.

“Right,” she snapped.

Amy plugged the earpiece back inside her ear and smoothed her dress down again for good measure. Sergeant Cooper was staring at her the whole time, she could feel it. She refused to give him the pleasure of looking at him, though.

“Amy, - - “ he started, but he didn’t continue when she looked at him pointedly.

“I thought we had to get back, _officer_?” she asked. “God knows how long we’ve been gone already.”

He clenched his jaw and opened the door. “After you,” he said, with thinly veiled sarcasm.

They walked in silence towards the bustling sounds of the party which seemed to be in full swing. Amy wondered if the criminal was among them, looking for her. Sergeant Cooper nodded to the door behind which a bathroom had to be; Amy had studied the blue prints of the estate along with Detectives Hofstadter and Winkle. There was no need for him to point out the bathroom to her.

“I’ll be at the bar,” Sergeant Cooper said. “Perhaps we can bend the rules a little more tonight after all. You look like you could use a drink.”

Amy watched him walk away with her mouth slightly open. Did he mean to insult her looks after he had just _taken her_ as she lay across a couch while still coming back down to earth from the insane orgasm he had given her just minutes before that? The guy had some nerve.

She glanced at herself in the mirror above the sink fleetingly before she opened the second door to the toilet. After relieving herself, she sat back down on the toilet seat to just _think._

The situation between herself and Sergeant Cooper had escalated big-time. Never in the world would she have expected – well, she had hoped obviously - this to happen between them, let alone at a party. While he was on duty. Captain Gablehauser would probably go crazy if he found out what had transpired between them. How on _earth_ were they ever going to explain their radio-silence during their dalliance?

Amy turned the switch on the piece in her ear and the voices of the LAPD’s detectives filled her ear.

_“…Completely irresponsible behaviour, Sergeant,”_ Detective Winkle said his title with contempt.

_“You can take it up with Gablehauser if you see fit, Winkle,”_ Sergeant Cooper sounded bored and it hurt a little to hear him speak without a hint of emotion, even if it was to detective Winkle. Amy could only assume that whatever had happened between them, was just a one-off to him, or only a way to release tension. She had just hoped that he would have been affected– even if it was just a little.

Were all those things he said to her _during_ just things he said in the throes of passion? It couldn’t be, could it? Amy though back to how he had thrown her on the chaise longue by the window and had proceeded to ravish her. He had been able to make her come easily, and Amy wondered if it was because of the constant tension between the two of them, or because of the other thing.

Faisal hadn’t done what Sergeant Cooper had done to her.

She still felt tingly when she thought back to the sensation of having his face between her legs. The feel of his tongue on her most intimate parts had caught her off guard – in a very good way. Her heartrate picked up again.

Her tongue moved to the front of her mouth, feeling the slight swelling in her upper lip. Never would she have thought that her lips would swell from the pressure of having a penis in her mouth. Amy chuckled slightly. There were multiple things that happened this evening that she’d never thought about before.

She figured she’d have to evaluate their whole encounter later; there was no time to think it all through again. Detective Winkle sounded in her ear.

_“Oh, I will take it up with Gablehauser, sarge. And when is Doctor Fowler going to turn her microphone back on? It’s still switched off.”_

Amy decided it was time to get back into the lion’s den. Figuring she would best wash her hands and fix her make-up and possibly hair before she went back out with the mic on, she walked out of the bathroom stall.

Her face didn’t look as awful as she thought it would have; her make-up was almost all in place and her hair would be fixable. It was really too bad that the lovely curls Penny had made were now somewhat ruined. Amy was just fluffing her hair a little – it seemed to be flattened down in the back the most – when the door to the hallway opened and a woman walked in.

It was the red-haired woman who had been on Rajesh’s side when Sergeant Cooper had pulled her away from the party.

The woman raised her eyebrows in surprise, and her face adapted an almost arrogant look.

“Well, well, well,” she said. “If it isn’t Amy Farrah Fowler.”

Amy blinked in confusion. “Yes, I am,” she said slowly. “Are you… Emily? The girl Rajesh has been seeing?”

The woman guffawed – or scoffed, actually.

“So you know he’s seeing someone?” she said, like she was talking to a child. The woman – Emily – was looking at her disbelievingly as she put her arms on her hips, all the while giving her a sardonic smile.

An eerie chill moved over Amy’s spine.

“He’s told me about you, yes,” Amy smiled – something felt off, but she was determined to keep a cheery demeanour and pretend nothing was happening. She hadn’t done anything wrong here, and the key in these situations was to keep someone talking.

“I’m so happy for you both, Rajesh is a really great guy,” Amy finished.

“Oh, cut the crap!” Emily hissed. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been up to.”

Amy’s heart skipped a beat. “What?”

“ _What?”_ Emily repeated mockingly. “I found the poems you wrote for him. And the short stories too. But the poems were the worst. Did you think I wouldn’t find out or something?”

Amy could only stare. Find out what?

Why wasn’t Sergeant Cooper bursting through the door already? He had to have realised something was wrong with this woman. Just how many more insinuations did this woman have to make before he would come to her rescue?

_But he wasn’t listening to their conversation_ , Amy realised. Her microphone was still turned off.

Her heart palpitated.

“I’m sorry, I really don’t know what you mean,” Amy said, unconsciously taking a step back. She was pretty much cornered in the small room.

“Yeah, right? You give my boyfriend poems about _love_ and _becoming one with someone,_ and _the feeling of divine intervention in the flesh,”_ she spat the words in her face, “and you think his girlfriend wouldn’t find out about the illicit affair that inspired that?”

Amy had always thought her sonnets had a sort of beauty to them, but hearing them parroted back to her in this tone, made her rethink her earlier opinion.

Also, what illicit affair?

“But those weren’t _about_ Rajesh,” Amy interjected.

Emily didn’t seem to be listening to her. “And when I confronted him, Rajesh told me all about you! The guy missed the memo never to talk about your exes to your new girlfriend. But he had also missed the memo that you don’t keep in touch with your ex while seeing someone new. And since he didn’t seem to understand that his only focus should be on _me_ and me alone, I decided to go a different route. With you out of the way, he wouldn’t be able to give you any attention at all. He’ll forget those poems ever even existed, and he’ll no longer fantasize about the nights he had with you.”

Things began to click in Amy’s head.

“But did you back off? No!” Emily continued, and she was advancing towards Amy. Amy took another step back, and her back hit the wall behind her.

“Instead, the two of you go out to lunch. Still. Even when you _know_ about my presence in his life. You’d think that kidnapping your monkey would scare enough sense into you, but noooooo.”

Ice ran through her veins as Amy gaped at her. “ _You_ took Ricky?”

“You’re really slow on the uptake for someone with a PhD, Doctor Fowler,” Emily mocked.

The earlier sweat on her back reappeared, but not in the way Amy had wanted it to. She needed to keep a clear head. This girl Rajesh was seeing was obviously misunderstanding the nature of her relationship with him – and that was putting it lightly.

“Where is he?” Amy asked.

“The monkey? He’s fine,” Emily dismissed her easily, “he stopped screeching too much once I gave him one of my menthol cigarettes. I didn’t really mean to take him with me, but one of my stun darts accidentally hit him while I entered your lab, so I couldn’t have him lying around.”

“Stun darts?” Amy repeated weakly. She had figured that she should keep her talking as long as possible; Sergeant Cooper would have to come fetch her after too long a time, after all. Amy tried to figure out how long she had been in the bathroom by now. When would Sergeant Cooper figure she wasn’t staying away from him on her own volition?

“Yes,” Emily answered, and her eyes gleamed menacingly. “I couldn’t really bring my stun gun with me dressed in black tie, but a knife is easy to carry around.”

She lifted her dress and pulled a knife from a holster not unlike the one Amy herself had strapped to her leg. The blade shone in the fluorescent light of the bathroom.

Amy’s throat was dry. She tried not to look too scared and remember her training. She and Sergeant Cooper had never practiced _knife fights_ though. Was she supposed to kick the knife out of her hand? Reach for her gun beneath her dress and shoot?

Despite the threat she was currently facing, she didn’t think she could actually shoot a _person._

Emily had stopped advancing towards her now, and Amy knew it was too late. She was too close to her for to get her gun and shoot even a warning shot. Emily was close enough now to actually use the knife on her, though.

“What are you doing?” Amy asked. _Keep her talking_ , she reminded herself.

Emily guffawed. “Did you _buy_ your diploma at Harvard, Doctor Fowler? What does it look like I’m doing? I’m going to cut you, so you know to keep your mitts of things that aren’t yours.”

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding here,” Amy muttered quickly. It wasn’t working, trying to remain calm. She could feel the panic course through her veins.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Emily whispered, the blade of her knife flickered in the lights as she moved it closer to Amy’s face. “You don’t fool me. The way to Rajesh’s heart is through his romantic side. And there’s nothing he loves more than romantic gestures, like in those movies he loves so much; Notting Hill and Love Actually. Your short stories and poems were right up his alley.”

Amy was mortified, and therefore unable to utter a single word.

“You really thought I wouldn’t figure it out,” Emily tutted. “I guess you’d never think that Rajesh would be dating someone with an _actual_ degree. I figured it out in no time, the affair between the two of you. You should have just backed off when I first warned you. You really put this on yourself.”

Emily lunged at her, and Amy only narrowly avoided the blade of her knife. Her physical combat training seemed to work a little after all, because she hadn’t even realised she had moved until she heard Emily bump into the wall behind her.

Vaguely Amy could hear people talk in her ear. She heard her name being used, and the sergeant’s as well, but everything was a blur. The conversation over the earpieces was hard to hear due to the ringing in her ears caused by the adrenaline rushing through her veins.

Both she and Emily were panting. Emily was doubled over from her walk in with the wall.

Amy figured this was her only opportunity to act – so she did. Her fist swung back like on its own accord, and an almost cathartic scream echoed around them when it hit the redhead’s jaw.

Sergeant Cooper could have warned her about the sound of crashing bones when you punched someone, Amy realised. It was a sickening sound. 

Amy took no time to think it over; she had stumbled backwards herself from the force of the punch.

Emily sunk to the floor, but she held onto her knife with white knuckles. Her look of disbelief quickly morphed into a look of pure rage. She was surprisingly fit as she hopped back onto her feet and advanced towards Amy.

Amy wasn’t prepared for the other’s speedy recovery. Emily practically growled at her, and her arm was raised high and swinging around wildly. The sound of the knife slashing through the air woke Amy up.

She tried to block Emily’s arm as she appeared to want to stab her for real. Suddenly all the air left her lungs and she doubled over from the blow she took to her stomach. Black spots appeared before her eyes.

“Bitch,” Emily hissed.

Amy didn’t know where she managed to get the strength to push Emily away, but she did. She didn’t even feel the blade of the knife shallowly cut the skin of her forearm in the process - it was only when she saw the blood splattered on the floor that she felt the sting on her arm.

Emily had fallen down again, and this time she took longer to get back on her feet.

Amy hastily lifted her dress – she was sure she flashed Emily in the process – and pulled her gun from the holster.

“Drop the knife,” Amy said breathlessly, using all the authority she had in her. Her hands shook. In her peripheral vision she saw the blood dripping down from the cut in her arm.

Emily gaped at the firearm. “Like you’d dare to use that,” she hissed, but her voice wavered.

Amy _did_ dare, she realised. The clicks her gun made as she took the safety off were drowned out by the door to the bathroom swinging open with a bang. At least four men barged in, guns drawn and angry. The sounds from the party still going on in full swing were loud to her ears, and a lot happened at once.

“Drop your weapons!”

A commanding voice bellowed, and Amy immediately obeyed. She crouched down and released the magazine from her gun as she lowered it to the ground.

It was Sergeant Cooper who hollered. Amy glanced at him warily from her position on the ground. He was looking at Emily, though. “Johnson, cuff the redhead and bring her in,” he barked.

“Sir, yes, sir,” Officer Johnson answered, and he was hardly recognizable in the line of duty: serious and determined.

With Emily taken care of, Sergeant Cooper was next to Amy in an instant. His face smelled familiar of talcum powder and something else Amy recognized but couldn’t quite place. “Are you alright?” he asked as he helped her up from the ground. Her gun was kicked to a corner.

It was only now that Amy realised she was bleeding profusely. She started shaking terribly.

She could only nod.

“Get a first aid kit,” Sergeant Cooper ordered someone dressed in a tux as well, but who was obviously another undercover cop. The officer left after giving him a firm nod.

Sergeant Cooper looked concerned as he assessed the open wound on her arm. Amy watched with surprise as he took off his jacket. He ripped at the seam of his shirt’s left sleeve; the fabric tore off with a little difficulty.

“Here, this should do for now,” he mumbled, wrapping the fabric tightly around her underarm. The white cotton almost immediately turned bright red with the blood saturating the fabric.

“We’ll get you a blanket as well,” he said, turning his head and nodding to another officer. His hand had taken hold of her right one, and he examined her cut-up knuckles. He grinned a little, and if Amy didn’t know better he looked strangely proud.

“Good girl, using your right hook,” he whispered, his eyes sparkled.

Amy chuckled disbelievingly at him. In her peripheral vision she saw Emily being escorted outside by a couple of officers. A small crowd outside tried to get a peek at the scene going on.

“Uhm… Sarge, the EMTs are on their way. We’ll give you a minute for now,” someone said, handing him the aforementioned blanket. The door swung closed behind him.

It was strangely silent without anyone else with them in the room.

“Sheldon,” Amy whispered.

He looked at her with mixture of concern and kindness. “Not now,” he said softly, somehow realising what she wanted to discuss. “We got to get you fixed up first, and then we’ll have to take your statement at the precinct. Later, I promise.”

He shook out the blanket, and draped it around her shaking shoulders. Amy felt the adrenaline leave her body in a rush, and instead her eyes filled with tears. She opened her mouth as if to speak again, but no sound came out.

The sergeant’s hands moved over her upper arms in a soothing motion, and he pulled her against him. “Sssh,” he hushed. “It’s alright. We’ve got her.”

Amy nodded into his chest. She was soaking what was left of his dress shirt with tears and leaving traces of mascara on the white fabric as she did. Big warm hands rubbed over her back and held her head close.

“And I’ve got you.”

**To be continued**


End file.
